http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060829/...la_chavez_dc_2
Tue Aug 29, 6:17 AM ET
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he would leave for Syria later on Tuesday on a trip likely to rile Washington, which charges the Arab nation with sponsoring terrorism.
Chavez has led an increasingly powerful leftist resurgence in Latin America that has worked to roll back U.S.-supported free-market reforms of the 1990s.
"Now I can say we are taking off in a few hours for the Arab Republic of Syria," Chavez, speaking through an interpreter, told a group of businessmen in Kuala Lumpur.
Tensions between Caracas and Washington flared last week after a spat over Venezuela's impounding of cargo that the U.S. embassy said was protected by diplomatic protocol.
Chavez, a harsh critic of U.S. foreign and trade policies, had arrived in Malaysia on Sunday for a three-day visit to cement bilateral business ties.
He seeks to enhance Venezuela's influence on the world stage by boosting ties with U.S. foes such as Iran and Cuba, despite Washington's criticism of what he calls a socialist revolution.
The Bush administration and British Prime Minister Tony Blair say Syria backs militant groups in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon and has stoked recent violence in the Middle East.
An aide to Chavez, who asked not to be identified, said the two countries would sign a pact during Chavez's visit to Damascus, but gave no details. From Syria, Chavez flies to Angola.
In Kuala Lumpur, Chavez urged Malaysian businessmen to invest in Venezuela's energy, telecommunications, construction and food-processing sectors.
Officials of the two nations were working on plans for an investment-guarantee fund aimed at smoothing investment, and hoped to sign pacts on business ties during a visit to Venezuela planned by the Malaysian prime minister in December, Chavez said.
"The new geopolitics of the world is tied to the bilateral relations of countries like us," he said, adding that his government sought investment to help revitalize Caracas, the Venezuelan capital.
"To transform Caracas into a nice place, a nice city, with your help we can do it. You can come to Caracas and bring investment," he said.
Part of that investment could eventually be paid off in oil, Chavez said, noting that the national oil companies of the two countries were in talks on ways to cooperate. Venezuela is the world's No. 5 oil exporter.
Malaysia, which is the world's largest producer of palm oil, could share its palm-processing technology with Venezuela, which offers several million hectares of land for palm plantations, Chavez said. "Palm oil is very important for us," he said.
There would be no better time to take this freak out....
Jag
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