Hugo Chávez said on Monday that he met in Caracas with Raúl Reyes, the slain leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), to comply with several requests that former Colombian President Andrés Pastrana would have made to his Venezuelan counterpart.

"(I met with Reyes) in private and in secret in La Casona (one of the residences of Venezuelan presidents). We talked the whole night through," Chávez said and added that he worked to "try to find peace."

"Then, Pastrana asked me to meet with Antonio … I do not remember his last name, one of the leaders of Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN). I also met with him, in private," Chávez told journalists.

Meanwhile, President Chávez met with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko at the Miraflores Palace and called him "a socialist with very clear principles."

"There is no protocol between us. (...) We are brothers (...) He is a socialist. He has very clear principles," said President Chávez, after he held a private meeting with Lukashenko. After the meeting, delegations of both countries met with the two presidents.

Chávez said that Venezuela will sell 80,000 barrels of crude oil to Belarus from May 1. "The shipment will enable us to enter the European market and work with joint ventures with Belarusian refineries. Belarus is very generous with us," the Venezuelan leader said.

Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas