Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi sent a delegation to Caracas "to search for a political way out of Libya's crisis."
The AP reports:
Shortly after the violent upheaval in Libya began in February, Chavez proposed the creation of an international peace commission to mediate an end to the conflict. He said his government is continuing to seek a negotiated solution.
The Venezuelan president calls Gadhafi a friend and has been a staunch opponent of the military intervention by U.S. and European air forces. The leaders of Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia have taken similar stances.
The Guardian reports that in a televised speech on Tuesday, Chavez called the Allied bombing of Libya "crazy."
"Who gave them the right to do this? It's crazy," Chavez said. "Because they don't like the leader Gadhafi, because they want to take Libya's oil and water ... they are throwing bombs everywhere. We've had enough abuse, wars and invasions directed against third world countries."
Colombia's Semana reports that Chavez is proposing that the eight-country Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (or ALBA) take a lead role in the negotiations. But, reports Semana, analysts believe none of this will much matter.
"In the short run, no one will listen to Chavez," Semana quotes Milos Alcalay, Venezuela's former U.N. ambassador, as saying. "I don't think the international community would follow Chavez, as he's pretty isolated."
On Monday, says The Guardian, Chavez said he also backed Syria's president Bashar al-Assad.
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