Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 5 March (BelTA) – Venezuela values friendly ties with Belarus and is going to strengthen the bilateral cooperation, Americo Diaz Nunez, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to Belarus, said at the forum “Chavez, the symbol of revolution in Latin America and beyond” on 5 March, BelTA has learnt.

The diplomat believes that the Belarus-Venezuela cooperation that has made so much progress recently is based on friendly ties between the presidents of Belarus and Venezuela. Hugo Chavez was a big friend of the Belarusian people and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

“The people of Venezuela really appreciate the support of the Belarusian people and their efforts to improve living standards in Venezuela. Belarus-assisted construction of housing, provision of gas services, establishment of assembly plants to manufacture tractors, cars and road construction machines and Latin America’s biggest and most advanced plant to produce building materials contribute to Venezuela’s economic growth and creation of new jobs. All this attests to the remarkable achievements in improving the quality of life and investments into the national economy,” the Venezuelan Ambassador said.

Americo Diaz Nunez said that the ongoing forum that brought together so many participants is a testimony to the great love of the Belarusian people for Hugo Chavez. The forum was timed to the anniversary since his death on 5 March. Since 4 February the Venezuelan Embassy has arranged a number of events as part of the international campaign Vestiges of Hugo Chavez aimed to commemorate the Venezuelan leader. This international campaign was initiated by the Venezuelan government to pay tribute to the Comandante. During the entire month the Venezuelan diplomatic mission and NGOs held various events in memory of Hugo Chavez. The events included lectures at higher learning institutions, art and essay contests themed “Chavez in Belarus” among children and the youth and many other events. A photo exhibition “Five Years- Five Visits” featuring the most remarkable photos of Hugo Chavez’ visits to Belarus was arranged at the National Library of Belarus.

The concluding event of the campaign was the forum “Chavez, the symbol of revolution in Latin America and beyond”. Taking part in it were Head of the President’s Property Management Directorate Viktor Sheiman, Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Alexander Gurianov, Head of the Presidium of the Belarusian Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries Nina Ivanova, heads and representatives of various ministries and government bodies, universities, and foreign diplomatic missions, including Cuba.