HAVANA: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Cuba late Sunday to meet with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, as Caracas’s firebrand leader sets out on a tour that includes China, Russia, Portugal and France.
The Venezuelan leader was greeted at Jose Marti International Airport by Cuban President Raul Castro, who wore his customary military uniform.
In an article published Sunday in Cuba’s state-run press, Castro, 82, said the one-hour meeting with his close friend Chavez will be “a great honor for me.” The meeting follows a tête-à-tête between the two leftist leaders in June.
The Venezuelan leader had been authorized by the legislature to stop in Belarus as well, but said Sunday in his “Hello Mr. President” weekly broadcast that he would not be traveling there.
Chavez has said his travels hold “great strategic interest,” for his country. Lawmakers in Venezuela approved his Sept. 21-27 tour, designed to “strengthen international relations with those countries and sign exchange and cooperation deals on economic, social and cultural matters.” After his stop in Cuba, Chavez travels to China.
In the weekly TV broadcast, Chavez confirmed that Venezuela will buy combat and training aircraft from China during his visit.
Chavez, a staunch foe of the US government, confirmed that during his stay in Beijing he will purchase 24 K-8 aircraft “to train fighter pilots.” The planes could be part of Venezuela’s Air Force by next year.
The president also confirmed that while in Beijing he will arrange the construction of tanker vessels in Chinese shipyards, with the aim of installing a shipyard in Venezuela in the near future.
These plans come in addition to the construction of a refinery in China to process oil from Venezuela, and plans to create a bi-national company to install a refinery in the remote oil-rich Orinoco region in eastern Venezuela.
