Venezuela to establish diplomatic ties with Sudan

CARACAS, Venezuela, June 22, 2005 (AP) — Venezuela has established diplomatic relations with Sudan as President Hugo Chavez’s administration seeks stronger ties with African nations, a deputy foreign minister said Wednesday.

Reinaldo Bolivar told the government-run Bolivarian News Agency that a delegation of diplomats and representatives of Venezuela’s state oil company would soon travel to Khartoum to sign cooperation agreements with representatives of President Omar el-Bashir’s government.

Bolivar did not say exactly when diplomatic ties with Sudan were established or exactly when the delegation would travel there.

Since taking office in 1999, Chavez has sought broader diplomatic ties and trade agreements with governments in African and Asian countries while gradually distancing oil-rich Venezuela from the United States.