Leaders strengthen alliance against US

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad showed a united front in Venezuela this past week as two of the United States' biggest irritants cemented their ties. Chávez and Ahmadinejad exchanged words of praise, signed several energy agreements and inaugurated an Iranian-Venezuelan oil well during the Iranian leader's two-day visit. "Venezuela and Iran have demonstrated that together, out of the reach of hegemony and American imperialism, they can work and improve," Ahmadinejad said at the oil well in southeastern Venezuela. During Ahmadinejad's visit, Venezuela's president renewed his support for Iran's uranium enrichment program. "We are with you president, we will defend the rights of the Iranian people," Chávez told Ahmadinejad. "Hugo is my brother," Ahmadinejad said. "Hugo is the champion of the fight against imperialism." Ahmadinejad said the Venezuelan people "should not allow the world's tyrants, especially the United States, to interfere in their acts." On Sept. 17, the two leaders signed 29 bilateral agreements, notably in the energy sector. Among the agreements, Iran will transfer oil exploration technology to Venezuela. The governments also plan to build factories to produce everything from bricks to bicycles, and have agreed to set up a $2 billion investment fund. Chávez and Ahmadinejad accused Washington of trying to stifle the development of their nations while seeking to dominate international affairs. "The message from what occurred today is that revolutionary and independent peoples, with mutual help, are capable of providing for themselves," Ahmadinejad said. "Iran is one of the emerging countries of Asia, the Middle East. Venezuela is one of the emerging countries of Latin America," Chávez told a state-owned TV network. "It is a union that seeks a balance in the world and to save the future of your children, my children and our grandchildren." "It is doing the world a favor," he said. "Two revolutions are giving each other a hand," Chávez said at the capital's airport where he welcomed Ahmadinejad, chatting with him and walking with his arm across the visitor's shoulders. Iran established an Islamic republic after a 1979 revolution that ousted a US-installed leader and Chávez says he is creating his own revolution to overturn capitalist and US influence in the South American country. Iranian-Venezuelan ties have previously focused almost exclusively on cooperation as major oil exporters, but the two leaders emphasized their new bond in standing up to the United States. "Nowadays, we have common goals and interests," Ahmadinejad said. "We have to be united... to achieve peace and justice." "I salute all the revolutionaries who oppose world hegemony," he added in an apparent reference to the United States. The two presidents attended a summit of the developing world's Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Cuba days before Ahmadinejad's visit. At the meeting, Chávez vowed to stand with both Iran and Cuba under any circumstances. "We will accompany Iran as we will accompany Cuba," he said. "If the United States were to invade Cuba, blood would flow." More than the flow of blood, it is the flow of oil that has Washington worried. Between them, Iran and Venezuela produce almost 7 million barrels a day, and both have threatened a boycott in the event of US aggression. The NAM, founded in 1961 by nations that wanted to assert their independence from both Washington and Moscow, consists of 118 countries. Several of the more than 50 heads of state and government which attended the meeting are known for their strong criticism of the United States. The host, Cuban President Fidel Castro, understood to be recuperating from a gastric illness, did not make a public appearance during the event. Nevertheless, he was duly elected chairman of the NAM for the next three years. The delegates representing almost two-thirds of all the countries in the world gave their approval to a document spelling out agreed upon points, including: strong condemnation of Israel's recent intervention in Lebanon, a call for the United Nations to be more representative of smaller nations, support for Iran's nuclear energy plans and implicit criticism of much of US foreign policy. Many of the world leaders attending the summit used their seven allocated minutes at the podium to vent their anger at the Bush administration. The senior North Korean delegate said that threats from the United States had forced his country to arm itself with nuclear weapons. In a 2002 speech, President George W. Bush labeled Iraq, Iran and North Korea "the axis of evil." Bush's phrase was singled out for censure in the final document of the summit. It says the NAM "totally reject[s] the use of the term 'axis of evil' by a certain State to target other states under the pretext of combating terrorism." "Reading some of the news stories, I can't help thinking that the 'axis of evil' is growing and will soon be made up of 118 nations," said Cuban deputy foreign minister Abelardo Moreno. The most significant agreement occurred at the summit sidelines–Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India and President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan announced that they would re-start stalled peace talks and cooperate in the fight against terrorism. "As a group we have rejected extremes, we must spread the message of Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of peace, our stand must be of moderation, harmony, tolerance and reason," Singh said.