Chavez forges new oil-based partnership with Angola
LUANDA : Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called for a new political partnership with fellow oil producer Angola after holding historic talks with his counterpart Jose Eduardo dos Santos in Luanda.
Chavez, on the first visit by a Venezuelan head of state since Angola won independence in 1975, also pledged to open a first embassy in Luanda as a symbol of the burgeoning bilateral relationship.
"Our intention is to establish a partnership in the political, social and economic fields as well as cooperation in the petroleum sector," Chavez told reporters after the pair held talks in the Angolan capital.
"I am convinced that such an approach will enable us to move further down the road in our relations," he added.
Chavez said that he wanted to open an embassy in the Angolan capital shortly, adding that it was "a priority of ours."
Venezuela is now the fifth largest oil exporter in the world, producing 3.27 million barrels a day while Angola, already Sub-Saharan Africa's biggest exporter after Nigeria, is on course to produce two million bpd by 2007.
The two leaders were expected to hold another round of talks later in the evening before Chavez flies out in the early hours of Friday morning.
Angolan officials said prior to the visit that the two leaders also planned to discuss the situation in the Middle East.
Chavez arrived in Angola the day after a trip to Damascus where he met fellow US arch-foe President Bashar al-Assad and pledged to "reject the American empire's imperialism and attempts at hegemony." - AFP/de
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