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Venezuelan President
Travels to See Castro
NewsMax.com
Wires. Thursday, jan. 15, 2004.
HAVANA (AP) - Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez flew to Cuba Wednesday after the
Americas Summit in Mexico to meet with friend
and political ally Fidel Castro, state television
reported Wednesday night. The short report
offered no details about the encounter and
it was unclear how long Chavez planned to
stay on the island.
Communist-led Cuba was the only country
in the Western Hemisphere not invited to
the 34-nation special Summit of the Americas
in the northern city of Monterrey.
The summit of democratically elected heads
of state wrapped up their gathering Tuesday
night, pledging to stick to their timetable
on ending negotiations for a hemisphere-wide
trade zone known as Free Trade of the Americas.
Chavez was the only leader to sign the
final declaration with reservations because
of his opposition to free trade.
On Monday, Chavez refused to attend the
summit's official dinner and called the
gathering of regional leaders a "waste
of time." He said he missed the lunch
Tuesday because he was on the phone with
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi planning a
summit between Latin American and African
nations.
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