Russia, Venezuela sign joint declaration against U.S. supremacy

MOSCOW Ñ President Vladimir Putin hailed as a mirror-image of himself Monday Venezuela's populist leader Hugo Chavez, a "young and energetic" figure with whom he could strike an alliance based on oil and opposition to US supremacy.

Putin described the new-found partnership between Moscow and Caracas as "an important element of Russia's cooperation with Latin America," traditionally regarded as Washington's back yard.

After wide-ranging talks in the Kremlin, the two leaders signed a joint declaration condemning the idea of "unipolarity" Ñ a coded reference to US domination of world affairs Ñ and calling for an end to the US economic and trade embargo against Cuba.

The 47-year-old Kremlin chief described Chavez, 46, who last week threatened to declare a state of emergency and rule Venezuela by decree, as "a young and energetic leader of the new generation that pays great attention to the development of Russian-Venezuelan relations."

Both Putin and Chavez have sparked concern in Washington by publicly courting Cuba's veteran Communist leader Fidel Castro as well as the leaders of other so-called "rogue states" such as Iraq.

The joint declaration signed Monday said Putin and Chavez were ready to boost relations with Cuba, a former Soviet ally just off the southeastern coast of the United States, on the basis of respect, trust and independence."

In addition to calling for an end to the Cuba blockade, Chavez said Venezuela was ready to help Moscow obtain greater influence in the United States' back yard, adding: "We will help Russia's presence in the Caribbean region."

Putin thanked Chavez for inviting Russia to participate in the Caracas summit of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) last September. Venezuela currently holds the chair of OPEC, while Russia is a major oil producer.

"We are following with interest the work of the (OPEC) committee defining the volume of production and the price of oil," the Russian president said.

Putin said he and Chavez took a common view of oil prices, which should be "acceptable" for consumers and "fair" for producers, while the Venezuelan leader added: "We cannot allow the prices to fall."

Russia is not a member of OPEC, which agreed in March to cut production by one million barrels a day from April 1, in a bid to rein in falling crude prices at the end of the northern hemisphere's winter.

The Kremlin talks had been "an open dialogue" focussing on energy cooperation, Putin told journalists after the meeting, but neither side revealed the specifics under negotiation.

For his part, Chavez seemed to welcome the opportunity to liken his own authoritarian style to that of the Russian leader, with whom he said he expected to become "good friends."

"In the world at large, they characterise us in the same way," he told reporters. "They call us democrats with our own vision of democracy."

"We believe in democracy, but not the kind of democracy forced on us," Chavez said, adding: "A strategic alliance has began, a joint path."

The former paratrooper, who led a failed coup in 1992, has shaken up Venezuelan politics since his election in December 1998, remaking both the constitution and the government along the lines of his "Bolivaran revolution."

However, with support for his populist regime on the decline, Chavez said last Thursday that Venezuela's growing economic and social problems constituted exceptional circumstances justifying the declaration of emergency powers.

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