Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez promised to supply the oil needs of Belarus for years to come on Saturday, while the former Soviet republic's leader agreed to help Venezuela beef up its military.
As Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko concluded his first visit to Venezuela, Chavez said both he and his counterpart are wrongly labeled "dictators" by Washington and their critics.
"The international media dictatorship ... calls him `Europe's last dictator' and me the last dictator of Latin America. Here we are, the last dictators. But it's written in the Bible: the last will be first," Chavez said, laughing. "They demonize us ... [because] we're leading a process of liberating our nations, uniting our nations."
Venezuela and Belarus share similarly hostile stances toward Washington. The US government labels the leftist Chavez a threat to Latin America's stability and calls Belarus an "outpost of tyranny," accusing Lukashenko of stifling dissent and free speech.
Chavez presented Lukashenko with a medal and they signed an agreement pledging military cooperation. They did not discuss specifics publicly, but Chavez has expressed interest in buying an air defense system from Belarus equipped with radar and anti-aircraft missiles.
The two governments also signed an accord establishing a joint venture to exploit oil and natural gas in the South American country.
"The oil your nation needs ... is here, as much as you need for 100 years, 200 years," Chavez said during a ceremony at Guara Este oil field in eastern Venezuela. "And here is the Belarus-Venezuela mixed company to share this potential and this wealth."
He said the joint venture will operate at an oil field at Lake Maracaibo, one in the Orinoco River basin and three others.
"In a few years we can produce nearly 50,000 barrels of oil a day between us, and that oil will go to Belarus," he said.
The deal could be a boon to Belarus, which is reliant on Russia for its oil and gas. Under the agreement between the nations' state-run companies, Petroleos de Venezuela will control 60 percent of the venture, while Belorusneft will take a 40 percent stake.
"We have a way to respond to this great gift the Venezuelan people have given us," Lukashenko said through an interpreter. "I promise ... that we are going to do everything you say for your country, to maintain your sovereignty, guarantee your security and independence."
Officials also signed a series of accords pledging cooperation in areas from mining to construction of public housing in Venezuela.
"We resist being guided, dominated and bound up by an empire that aims to be the world's owner," Chavez said of the US.
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