On Monday, sixteen months after restoring diplomatic and economic relations, Colombia and Venezuela signed thirteen new bilateral cooperation agreements including in health, science, technology, energy and culture.
Petras argues that, the government of Hugo Chavez has arrested a number of Colombian guerrilla leaders and a radical journalist with Swedish citizenship and handed them over to the right-wing regime of President Juan Manuel Santos, earning the Colombian government’s praise and gratitude. The close on-going collaboration between a leftist President with such a regime has led to widespread protests throughout Latin America and Europe, while pleasing the Euro-American imperial establishment.
Cuban Computer Science and Communications Minister Medardo Diaz said the undersea cable that arrived on Cuba’s eastern coast on Tuesday after a 19-day voyage from Venezuela, “opens a breach in the (economic) blockade” that the United States has imposed on the island and bolsters “national sovereignty” in telecommunications
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and his Uruguayan counterpart, José “Pepe” Mujica, met in Caracas yesterday, to strengthen ties between the Latin American nations. They signed a dozen bilateral cooperation agreements, the bulk of which promote agricultural development, production and manufacturing. They discussed Venezuela’s pending “full” membership in the Mercosur Trading Block.
In Caracas yesterday, the presidents of Venezuela and Colombia announced plans to consolidate improved relations, meet every three months, and begin a number of oil, gas and transportation projects along the Venezuela-Colombia border. Venezuelan gasoline shipments to Colombia are to restart on Wednesday.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez began his ten day international tour yesterday in Russia. The visit, which lasted yesterday and today, was his ninth to the country, and centred on a nuclear energy agreement as well as 14 other agreements in the areas of finance, housing, and agriculture.
During Bolivian President Evo Morales’s first official visit to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s home state of Barinas on Thursday, the two socialist allies agreed to continue increasing bi-national cooperation in the areas of food and energy production.
On Friday, Ecuadoran and Venezuelan officials created a series of bi-national companies to produce automobile lubricant and food, and progressed on plans for joint oil and gas exploration, in what the leaders called a step forward for continental integration.
Yesterday Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez attended new Uruguayan president Jose Mujica’s swearing in ceremony, where he congratulated Mujica, talked of Latin American unity and further Venezuela-Uruguayan cooperation, and accepted Mujica’s offer to mediate between Venezuela and Colombia.
Venezuelan and Chinese government officials and business leaders met in Caracas this week to discuss bilateral relations. As a result of the accords signed at the meeting, Venezuela will increase its supply of oil to China to more than 600,000 barrels per day next year, and China will increase its investments in Venezuelan agriculture, infrastructure, mining, and energy production.
