Chavez: Venezuela to strengthen ties with Russia, China as US makes inroads in Latin America

September 17th, 2009 CARACAS - Chinese and Russian companies have agreed to invest a combined $36 billion in oil projects in the Orinoco Belt, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said. The president said state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.

September 14th, 2009 US worried about Venezuelan arms buildupWASHINGTON — A U.S. official said Monday that Venezuelan arms acquisitions could spark an arms race in Latin America and he also expressed misgivings about the country's possible nuclear ambitions.

September 11th, 2009 Chavez: Venezuela to get rockets from RussiaCARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he has signed military agreements with Russia and is soon expecting the arrival of some "little rockets." Chavez says the rockets reach up to 186 miles (300 kilometers) and are strictly for defense purposes. Chavez returned Friday from a world tour including a visit to Russia, where he met with President Dmitry Medvedev.

August 5th, 2009 Chavez: Venezuela to buy more tanksCARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez says his government plans to buy dozens of tanks because Venezuela feels threatened by pending deal to increase the U.S. military presence in Colombia.

July 24th, 2009 Venezuela upset by pending US-Colombia pactCARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez says Colombia should not underestimate Venezuela's concerns over the neighboring country's decision to forge stronger military ties with the United States. From Venezuela's point of view, Chavez said Thursday, it's like "opening your house for your neighbor's enemy." Colombian officials have said Venezuela should not be concerned by a pact being negotiated to let U.S.

June 28th, 2009 Chavez to US general: You're the threat, not usCARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez says a U.S. general shouldn't be raising concerns that Venezuela is buying arms, and the American commander is wrong to argue there isn't a "conventional military threat in the region." Chavez says the U.S.

May 30th, 2009 Chavez: Next gift for Obama authored by LeninCARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez says he has a new book for President Barack Obama: "What is to be Done?" by communist Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Soviet state. Chavez says he'll "give it to Obama at the next meeting." "What is to be Done?" is Lenin's political treatise on the role of intellectuals and the proletariat in promoting revolution, written more than a decade before he led the Bolshevik takeover of Russia in 1917.

May 13th, 2009 Clinton to visit Latin AmericaWASHINGTON — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday she will travel to Latin America in coming weeks to further U.S. goals in a region where she recently expressed concern about inroads by Iran, Russia and China.

May 3rd, 2009 Venezuela's Chavez courts Iran as US shows concernCARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez met with a delegation from Iran on Saturday to prepare for an upcoming visit from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — an alliance that has provoked concern in Washington. Venezuela's ambassador to Iran, David Velasquez, said following the meeting that Ahmadinejad's visit will deepen ties between the countries and "allow us to move ahead in the transfer of technology and industry," according to Venezuela's state-run Bolivarian News Agency.

May 2nd, 2009 Clinton wants renewal of ties to Latin AmericaWASHINGTON — The Obama administration is working to improve deteriorating U.S. relations with a number of Latin American nations to counter growing Iranian, Chinese and Russian influence in the Western Hemisphere, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday.

May 1st, 2009 Clinton sees Russia, China rising in AmericasWASHINGTON — The Obama administration is working to improve deteriorating U.S. relations with a number of Latin American nations to counter growing Iranian, Chinese and Russian influence in the Western Hemisphere, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday.

May 1st, 2009 US sees Iran, Russia, China rising in AmericasWASHINGTON — The Obama administration is working to improve deteriorating U.S. relations with a number of Latin American nations to counter growing Iranian, Chinese and Russian influence in the Western Hemisphere, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday.

April 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has defended the Obama administration's bid for rapprochement with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, saying that the policy of isolating him has not 'worked very well'. 'We've isolated him, so he's gone elsewhere.

April 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US government has said that it views as positive Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's proposal to discuss the restoration of full diplomatic relations between the two countries. 'Dialogue is what we believe is important.

January 16th, 2009 MACHIQUES - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has called on US president-elect Barack Obama to chart a new course of relations with Latin America, EFE news agency reported. Obama, who takes office next week, needs to maintain an egalitarian relationship with Latin America, said Lula who met his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez in Machiques, a town in the western Venezuelan state of Zulia Friday.