Venezuela to go nuclear

Libya: President Hugo Chávez reaffirmed in Libya the right of Venezuela to develop nuclear energy for peaceful ends, in a response to warnings from the US Government. “Nothing will stop us on that path, which is our people’s right,” Chavez said in remarks at the Academy of Higher Studies in Libya, where he was presented with an honorary doctorate. The comment was a response to statements by US President Barack Obama following the announcement of an agreement with Russia to build a nuclear plant in Venezuela.

Obama said he recognized that right, but that Venezuela had “obligations” and a “framework” to which it must adjust, to which Chavez replied that “Venezuela obeys no empire, only the mandate of its people.”

Chavez made his comments before meeting with Libyan leader Muammar Al Gaddafi. Before their meeting the Foreign Ministers of Venezuela and Libya held talks on bilateral cooperation and exchange on energy, science and technology, agribusiness, and education.

After meeting with Gaddafi and signing cooperation agreements, Chavez will travel to Portugal, the final stop on his international tour, which has also included Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Iran and Syria. Tripoli, Prensa Latina