By Daniel Flynn
Sat Jul 1, 3:40 PM ET

BANJUL (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called on Africa on Saturday to forge closer ties with Latin America to combat what he called a threat of U.S. hegemony.

Chavez, whose repeated criticism of America has raised hackles in Washington, called on an African Union summit to cooperate with Latin America in everything from oil production to university education to counter "colonial" meddling in developing nations.

Citing the example of Venezuela and Bolivia, he urged Africa to seize greater control of its energy resources. He described the low royalty payments made by some foreign oil companies as "robbery."

"We should march together, Africa and Latin America, brother continents with the same roots ... Only together can we change the direction of the world," he told the opening day of the AU summit, to applause.

"The world is threatened by the hegemony of the North American empire," said the former paratrooper, following speeches from African leaders which had criticized colonialism.

Africa's abundant natural resources -- ranging from precious metals to iron ore and oil -- should make it a wealthy continent if it were freed from outside exploitation, Chavez said.

"Africa has everything to become a pole of world power in the 21st century. Latin America and the Caribbean are equipped to become another pole," he said.

In a nod to another outspoken opponent of U.S. foreign policy, Chavez hailed Iran's right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is also attending the summit in the Gambian capital Banjul.

The Venezuelan leader called for a commission to evaluate joint energy projects between Africa and Latin America, as well as a media venture dubbed Telesur (TeleSouth) and a joint bank Banco del Sur (Bank of the South).

"In Venezuela, we were tired of all our oil going to Count Dracula," said Chavez, referring his government's decision to raise taxes on U.S. oil companies. "Now Venezuela is free and we have recovered control over our oil."

Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060701/wl_nm/africa_venezuela_dc;_ylt=Ane5ODTvY.MCNr6sl.p2zOADW 7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBhZDhxNDFzBHNlYwNtZW5ld3M-

I like Chavez,but I think hes stareting to push America too hard.

bah. He;s tired of seeing Africa and South America being used as economic imperial outposts to supply other countries with the raw materials they depleted their countries of long ago. The labor and environmental standards (and lack there of) have been imposed by those who do not represent the interests of the people of that country but rather the elites of other countries. It is time people take backwhat is rightfully theirs. First and foremost resepct, dignity and safety.

Typical qp. Nothing new - just words arranged in a different order. Blah, blah, blah ... the U.S. is bad...blah, blah, blah. Come up with something new, why don't you?

Typical qp. Nothing new - just words arranged in a different order. Blah, blah, blah ... the U.S. is bad...blah, blah, blah. Come up with something new, why don't you?

This comes from a guy that frequently refers to guerrila as qp.... It wasn't funny in the first place what makes you think its going to be funny the tenth time.

i like chavez. he's more concerned with everyday people instead of lining the pockets of the rich.

he'll be successful as long as he can duck quick, and does not try the old soviet route of military might competition.

keep it economics, politics, and philosophy, and what ever you do, don't shoot at amerika for any reason at all.

while chavez might have some good ideas... he toots the same horn all day and every day. In this case he's an idiot, because if it wasn't for america all the africans would still be over IN africa, which is NOT a very economically great place to live....

PLUS, america has done TONS to help out africa... so Chavez should STFU on this issue and quick.

In this case he's an idiot, because if it wasn't for america all the africans would still be over IN africa, which is NOT a very economically great place to live....That's right, Decka. Slavery was a good thing for Africans if you just look at it the right way. Problem is, most people aren't as enlightened as you are. :eek:

googs;

Calling it ""urging Africa to unite against U.S."" is misleading.

a) He is simply urging Africa to do what what every rightwing naybob in Ameirca is screaming that THIS country should be doing ------------ ""protecting the national interest"".

b) I don't blame Chavez. He is a very perceptive and intelligent man.

If Africa doesn't want to one day have the U.S. waging so-called "pre-emptive" war against them, they'd better try set into motion programs and policies NOW that will maybe one day keep them from being trampled by the warmongering, imperialistic colussus being led by the Bushites.

Chavez has some good ideas, but he's also an asshole... try and read the wikipedia article about him! I especially like that he wants people to vote him in office for 25 years at a time - it is rather annoying with all those elections, yes!

It is just good business. He wants the goodies for himself.

Sorry for being ignorant,but can somebody tell me what the 'good things America has done for Africa' is referring to.

It is just good business. He wants the goodies for himself.

On a one-to-100 scale of **wanting the goodies for oneself**, 100 being the greediest, Chavez ---as a committed socialist-- is in the single digits.

The ConservaFascist leadership in America is somewhere in the high nineties.

elp - -1 reading skills for you...

"In spite of a presidential term limit of 12 years, Chávez often suggests that he will remain in power for 25 years,[42] A claim he denies as a misinterpretation of his intent.[43] "

All of you would do well to read about how much Chavez has improved things in his country and is starting to do in others. Read his speeches denouncing leaders and exalting people.....

Yeah Chavez is such and asshole he offered free doctors to hurricane katrina relief efforts and subsidized heating for East coasters (both turned down by the US)

On a one-to-100 scale of **wanting the goodies for oneself**, 100 being the greediest, Chavez ---as a committed socialist-- is in the single digits.

The ConservaFascist leadership in America is somewhere in the high nineties.
================================================== ======

Both are greedy.

Socialist leaders also live in luxury. Followers in poverty.

googs;

Calling it ""urging Africa to unite against U.S."" is misleading.


That was the title of the article...

Socialist leaders also live in luxury. Followers in poverty. Che never did but you see the love he gets from the arm-band wearers around here...

i like Chavez. he's more concerned with everyday people instead of lining the pockets of the rich.

he'll be successful as long as he can duck quick, and does not try the old soviet route of military might competition.

keep it economics, politics, and philosophy, and what ever you do, don't shoot at "amerika" for any reason at all.

Do you mean "United States of North America"?

It was asked what the U.S. has ever done for Africa. How about just these recent things for example.

U.S. Aid to Africa Hits Record Levels
Geldof, Bono praise Bush before Group of Eight Summit in Scotland


Bob Geldof campaigns for debt relief in Africa, June 25, 2005. (©AP/WWP)


By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer



Washington -- President Bush is not a rock star or a producer but he has used the power of his presidency to aid Africans beset by the seemingly intractable challenges of poverty and disease more than anyone on the planet, according to two celebrity activists who are dedicated to keeping Africa's plight in the forefront of world attention.

"[Bush] has actually done more than any American president for Africa," British producer Bob Geldof, who is the leading organizer of the "Live 8" concerts that are being held worldwide on July 2 to raise awareness of Africa's development needs, told Time Magazine recently.

Bono, lead singer of the Irish band U2 and longtime activist for aid to Africa, echoed Geldof’s praise for President Bush as he told an American television interviewer June 26, "[Bush] has already doubled and tripled aid to Africa .… I think he has done an incredible job, his administration, on AIDS. 250,000 Africans are on anti-viral drugs; they literally owe their lives to America."

As for an overall legacy, Bono said of Bush: "If he, though, in his second term, is as bold in his commitments to Africa as he was in the first term, he indeed deserves a place in history in turning the fate of that continent around."

Government statistics indicate that American assistance to Africa -- on all levels, private sector as well as government -- are at an all-time high reflecting an increased awareness of the continent's needs by the president who pledged more funding, especially to combat HIV/AIDS, during a trip to the continent in July 2003.

Now, both Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have pledged to make aid to sub-Saharan Africa a central topic at the upcoming meeting of the Group of Eight Nations (or G8, consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) in Gleneagles, Scotland, set for July 6-8. They have also been the prime movers behind a recent announcement by developed nations’ finance ministers of a massive debt reduction for 14 nations in sub-Saharan Africa. (See related article.)

In addition, Blair is pushing a plan of action for development aid to Africa put together by an organization he established called the Commission for Africa (CfA). It calls for a doubling of the more than $25 billion in annual aid that currently goes to the continent.

On June 13, when President Bush met with five African leaders, he assured them: "The United States is committing to expanding our efforts to relieve, hunger, reduce debt, fight disease on the African continent." (See related article.)

Calling AIDS "one of the greatest causes of suffering in Africa, the president told them he made combating the disease in Africa "a top priority of my administration. This crisis is one that can be arrested. And I want you all to know that when America makes a commitment, we mean what we say," he emphasized.

That commitment involves a worldwide emergency plan for AIDS relief focusing on sub-Saharan nations that was allocated about $780 million to battle the disease in 2004. That amount grew to $1.1 billion in 2005.

Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick has also placed Africa at the top of his agenda. He told a business-finance gathering in Rwanda in early June: "U.S. development aid to sub-Saharan Africa has risen three to four times (since 2000) to about three to five billion dollars over the past two years."

The private sector adds considerably to the development equation, Zoellick added: "If you take the amount of net private investment, personal remittances to developing countries, and NGO grants, that amount from the United States totaled $48 billion last year -- over two and a half times the amount we had in overseas development assistance."

Furthermore, he said, "If you combine development assistance, private capital flows, grants by NGOs, and trade, the United States now supplies 70 percent of the G-7 support to developing nations," which shows how development aid is combined with other capital sources.

To help Africans pursue business-oriented growth, President Bush established the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA), an innovative way to help countries increase a better business environment to attract investment. So far eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa are eligible for its funding and Madagascar has already signed an MCA agreement worth $110 million to help develop its rural infrastructure.

Che never did but you see the love he gets from the arm-band wearers around here...

there has always got to be one that didnt so they can point to him and use him in their lies. For one so in tune with government lies and manipulation you sure seem dumb when it comes to your guys doing the same thing.

OK trah explain how Che lived in luxary... I await your astounding skills....

I said he didnt. I said that there has to be one who didnt so as to justify all those that follow that do.