Qaddafi, Chavez Seek to Form 'NATO for South'

Monday , September 28, 2009

PORLAMAR, Venezuela — 

The Libyan leader planned to meet with the Venezuelan president on Monday and was expected to sign a series of accords to deepen cooperation between their governments.

Chavez and Qaddafi led a weekend summit where South American and African leaders pledged to deepen links between the continents. Chavez made diplomatic inroads while offering African countries Venezuela's help in oil projects, mining and financial assistance.

Qaddafi, who is making his first visit to Latin America, said the two regions should unite to wield more influence and form a defense alliance, a "NATO for the South" — calling it "SATO."

"Those who were betting on NATO, we now say to them that we're going to bet on SATO," Qaddafi said during the summit. "We're going to have our treaty, too."

Chavez, a former army paratroop commander, says the United States poses the greatest potential threat to Venezuela, and has raised the idea of a South Atlantic defense bloc with other allies in the past.

On the economic side, Chavez said Venezuela signed agreements to work together on oil projects with South Africa, Mauritania, Niger, Sudan and Cape Verde. Chavez's government agreed to partner with South Africa's state oil company PetroSA in developing oil fields in Venezuela, and offered to help with oil projects in the other countries.

Venezuela also intends to form joint mining companies with nations including Namibia, Mali, Niger and Mauritania, Chavez said.

It is unclear how much investment and aid Chavez is prepared to offer in Africa since his oil-producing country is coping with a sharp drop in its revenues due to lower world crude prices.

The summit on Venezuela's Margarita Island addressed a wide range of concerns, from hunger in Africa to the economic crisis and a common response to climate change. It also gave Chavez an opportunity to increase his influence in Africa while criticizing U.S. and European influence in poorer nations.

"South-South" cooperation was a buzzword at the summit, which brought together both the African Union and the South American bloc Unasur.

Qaddafi, who has ruled Libya since he seized power in a 1969 coup, has sought a higher profile internationally in recent years and is currently chairman of the African Union.

He criticized the "imperialism" of some wealthy countries, and denounced the U.N. Security Council as an elite club where nations such as Libya have no voice. He called for both regions to unite to demand change in the United Nations — something all the leaders agreed to do in a summit declaration, saying the council should be more "democratic" and "representative."

The Libyan leader said of leading world powers, without mentioning which countries: "They say they face terrorism. They're terrified. ... But they themselves have created the phenomenon."

"In the North, they live in a state of terror as a result of the hatred they've generated," Qaddafi said through an interpreter. He said a larger role for African and South American countries can help restore "equilibrium at the international level."

Venezuela exploring uranium deposits with Russia

PORLAMAR, Venezuela – Venezuela's science and technology minister said his country is working with Russia to detect deposits of uranium but withdrew an earlier denial that the country was also working with Iran.

Jesse Chacon originally denied the reports that Venezuela is receiving support from Iran to seek uranium, but clarified later Saturday that his comments were only in regard to Russia and that exploration efforts with Iran fall under the direction of Venezuela's Mining Ministry.

Mining Minister Rodolfo Sanz said Friday Iran is helping Venezuela to detect uranium deposits and that initial evaluations suggest reserves are significant. His announcement was made the same day world leaders criticized the Islamic republic for secretly building a uranium-enrichment plant that could be used to make an atomic bomb.

Sanz declined to respond to reporters when questioned Saturday about Chacon's remarks. President Hugo Chavez said only that Venezuela "has a lot of uranium."

Asked about how Venezuela will use its uranium reserves, Chacon said that they would be exploited to develop "nuclear energy for medicinal purposes, for peaceful purposes."

Chavez had expressed interest in developing nuclear energy as early as 2005, and mentioned Venezuela could discuss it with Iran. He said during a visit to Tehran earlier this month that the two nations agreed to work together on geological studies in the Venezuelan Andes and the foothills in his home state of Barinas, where satellite information indicated the existence of "different minerals that are very important for the country's development." He didn't elaborate, and didn't mention uranium.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly has said U.S. officials have "concerns" about the possible exchange of nuclear material between Venezuela and Iran. But analysts say Iran, which has its own uranium deposits, doesn't have any immediate need to import the metal.

Chavez's project remains in its planning stages and still faces a host of practical hurdles, likely requiring billions of dollars, as well as technology and expertise that Venezuela lacks.

Russia has offered to help bridge that gap, but Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for Russian state nuclear agency Rosatom, has said there are no concrete projects and that any joint mining of uranium or the radioactive metal thorium is still a long way off.

Both Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are well-known for their anti-U.S. rhetoric, and have forged ties in everything from finance to factories, provoking concerns in Washington. Iran now manufactures cars, tractors and bicycles in Venezuela.