CARACAS, Wednesday July 23, 2008 | Update
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and his Belarusian
counterpart Alexander Lukashenko executed on Wednesday a memo
of understanding to develop two new oil areas in east and
west Venezuela, according to a press release from the Venezuelan
presidential office.
The instrument mirrors the presidents' agreement to add the
areas of North Oritupano and Ostra, in northeastern Anzoátegui
state, and Block II, in northwestern Zulia state, to the existing
oil drilling both in east and west Venezuela, AFP quoted.
"We have made progress with Belarus in two years only. We
are developing already several fields and producing almost
20,000 bpd [...] Today, we signed an agreement to extend the
operations to other fields, both in the east and the west,
and therefore, increase this output twofold to 30,000 barrels,"
said Chávez during his third visit to the European country.
10:07 AM. DIPLOMACY. Admired by the Colombian guerrilla after his coup attempt in 1992, the then lieutenant colonel Hugo Chávez Frías received financial support by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) for his projects after his capture that year. This mostly explains the relationship and "debt" between the parties, as revealed by a paper of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) of the United Kingdom.