Dictators decided to meet more often

Hugo Chávez is to visit Belarus in late August, Alyaksandr Lukashenka will go Venezuela in December.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Venezuela to Belarus Americo Diaz Nunez told at a press conference on Wednesday that leadership of Belarus and Venezuela planned to exchange top-level visits in the second half of the year.

“Hugo Chávez is most likely to visit Belarus in late August–early September,” he said.

According to the ambassador, Alyaksandr Lukashenka will possibly visit Venezuela in December. Diaz Nunez added that the visit of the Belarusian ruler “might be connected with opening joint Belarusian-Venezuelan enterprises in Venezuela.”

It was reported earlier that the Belarusian ruler and Venezuelan president arranged in a telephone conversation on June 20 for a meeting. The telephone call was initiated by Venezuela.

“Alyaksandr Lukashenka and Hugo Chávez discussed trade, economic, and political cooperation of the two countries. They had a detailed conversation on implementation of big join projects in different sectors – from construction industry, to machine engineering and petroleum chemistry. Special attention was given to the process of implementation of the Belarusian-Venezuelan project on oil production in Venezuela. The parties emphasized the necessity to advance this process and give impact to it,” the press service of Lukashenka reports.

Hugo Chávez visited Belarus three times – in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

In December 2007, Alyaksandr Lukashenka paid an official visit to Venezuela to open a joint Belarusian-Venezuelan oil production enterprise in the state of Anzoategui.