Venezuela, Belarus sign oil deal; Chavez hails resistance to U.S. imperialism

Venezuela signed over three more oil fields to a joint venture with Belarus on Wednesday, with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez declaring that the two countries were strongly united in their resistance to 'U.S. imperialism' and Washington's 'lackeys.' The fields were signed over after Chavez met President Alexander Lukashenko, the hardline leader of the ex-Soviet state whom the United States has called Europe's last dictator. The joint venture was established last year with Chavez promising to supply Belarus' oil needs for the next century as a sign of solidarity. Belarus relies on Russia for oil, but has troubled relations with Moscow. The new fields will roughly triple the joint venture's capacity to roughly two million tonnes of oil a year, Belarus' first deputy prime minister Sergei Semashko said at the signing. Chavez, on his third visit here, praised Belarus as an ally and renewed his vehement criticism of the United States. 'We are fighting against one and the same opponent - imperial America and the countries that are its lackeys,' he said. Addressing Lukashenko, he added: 'You know we are winning, but it's a long battle and we cannot say we've won yet.'