Chavez: Venezuela is Palestine and Palestine is Venezuela
Nov. 28, 09 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Popular Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced on Friday his country would open an embassy in Palestine and upgrade ties to ambassadorial level to help support Palestinians and their struggle against Israel. Reuters reported.
‘We have decided to designate an ambassador and open an embassy in Palestine,’ Chavez told reporters after a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas. ‘We now have a charge d'affaires; we will name an ambassador in coming days as part of accords to boost our bilateral relations,’ he said.
Venezuela also provided scholarship for 20 Palestinian to study medicine in Venezuela.
The revolutionary Latin American leader clearly expressed Latin Americans’ support for Palestinians. He said, ‘We ... are on the side of the Palestinian people's memorable struggle ... against the genocidal state of Israel that knocks down, kills and aims to terminate the Palestinian people.’
‘We (Venezuelans) should devote the entire force of our hearts and souls toward the creation of a Palestinian state," he said. ‘Venezuela is Palestine; Palestine is Venezuela, we have a common struggle.’
Venezuela broke diplomatic relations with Israel last January. Caracas blasted Tel-Aviv for its Gaza offensive against civilians using phosphorous bombs. Chavez called the Israeli offensive of Gaza a ’genocide’.
Venezuela, a country that possesses huge energy reserves and a leading member of OPEC, has become the voice of anti-imperialism in Latin America and beyond. Both Venezuela and Iran confirmed their relentless cooperation against the hegemonic policies of some Western countries during Ahmadinejad’s visit to Caracas, last week.
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