VENEZUELA: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meets with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Caracus after Chavez announced that he would nationalize "absolutely all" of country's energy industry

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad landed in Caracas on Saturday (January 13) for his second trip to Latin America in four months. Ahmadinejad started his official visit in Venezuela holding talks with its anti-U.S. President Hugo Chavez. Ahmadinejad, who like Chavez peppers his speeches with statements against Washington, will also visit Nicaragua and Ecuador, where presidents opposed to U.S. policies have also recently won elections. The United States is unlikely to welcome the tour by Ahmadinejad. Washington accuses Iran of sponsoring terrorism and seeking to build atomic bombs, charges Tehran denies. Chavez welcomed Ahmadinejad to Caracas in September with the words: "Two revolutions are giving each other a hand." Washington accuses Venezuela, which like Iran is a member of OPEC, of using its oil wealth to destabilize democracy in the region. Chavez, the most visible face of a leftist resurgence in Latin America, has built strong ties to U.S. adversaries like Iran as he promotes a socialist "revolution" to end poverty. Likewise, Ahmadinejad has vowed to share out oil wealth more fairly in Iran. When Chavez visited Iran in July, Ahmadinejad described him as "my brother, the brother of the whole Iranian nation and of all freedom-seeking people in the world." The Venezuelan president has backed Iran in its pursuit of nuclear technology, which Tehran insists is aimed at generating electricity not making bombs. The two countries have signed numerous cooperation agreements in the past. Unlike his Latin American counterparts who have recently secured election victories, Ahmadinejad was dealt a blow at the ballot box in Iran last month when his supporters were trounced in votes for local councils and a powerful clerical body. On Sunday, Ahmadinejad and Chavez are expected to travel to Nicaragua, where U.S. Cold War foe Daniel Ortega swept to power this month. Ahmadinejad then travels to Ecuador, where the presidential race was recently won by Rafael Correa, another critic of U.S. policies. Earlier on Saturday, during his annual address to congress, Chavez said he would nationalize "absolutely all" of the country's energy industry, broadening the range of state takeovers at the heart of his socialist revolution. The leader, who has been president since 1999 was re-inaugurated on Wednesday (January 10) for a term that runs through 2013. He announced plans this week to nationalize electricity utilities and the OPEC nation's biggest telecommunications company. "A capitalist energy company has nothing in common with energy saving policies, on the contrary, it's all about squandering energy. That's why we have decided to nationalize the whole Venezuelan energy and electricity sector, all of it, absolutely all," he said in an address to parliament. Chavez is expanding the scope of his push to take over the hydrocarbons industry in the fourth-biggest crude exporter to the United States, saying he wanted state control of foreign-run gas projects as well as crude fields. His remarks on Saturday would suggest he sees no room for any foreign ownership anywhere in Venezuela's main industry.

ITN Source | January 14, 2007

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