London ex-mayor Livingstone meets Venezuela's Chavez

The leftwing former mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, on Wednesday met with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Caracas and agreed to continue to act as an advisor on municipal matters. Chavez, Livingstone told reporters after the meeting, had asked him to keep advising candidates from Chavez's ruling socialist party running for mayors in November local elections. Livingstone was mayor of London for eight years, until he lost re-election this year to Boris Johnson, a conservative. In February 2007, he arranged with Chavez the importation of cheap gasoline from Venezuela for the public bus network in the British capital in exchange for advice on municipal transport, environmental issues, waste management and tourism. Johnson has since scrapped that deal. Livingstone -- who has the nickname 'Ken the Red' for his leftwing sympathies -- has said he is a personal friend to Chavez, who maintains a virulent anti-US, anti-capitalist stance.