Chávez jets off to 'save the world' and bid for UN seat
By Andy Webb-Vidal 
July 20, 2006
Financial Times
Original Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/112755d2-1788-11db-abad-0000779e2340.html

Hugo Chávez's appearance at the Mercosur summit in the Argentine city of Córdoba today will be just the first stage of his most extensive global tour to date.
Over the next two weeks, the Venezuelan president will visit at least seven countries, mostly in Asia, plus, as he put it before his departure, perhaps some in the Middle East and a few in Africa on the way.
Officially, the former army officer says his oil-financed mission is to deliver a message of peace and to save the world.
But his journey will also entail a serious lobbying effort to secure diplomatic support for Venezuela's bid to secure a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council that will be available soon.
He looks increasingly likely to succeed. Ahmed Benhelli, a top official from the Arab League of Nations, said on Tuesday the 22-member organisation could officially back Mr Chávez's UN bid. Venezuela, fifth-largest oil exporter, has been admitted as an observer member to the League.
Diplomatic backing from Arab countries for the UN vote would add to already declared support from Caribbean nations, several African countries, the other four full members of Mercosur, and probably other South American states.
Mr Chávez, who will visit Iran and Qatar, has voiced his categorical and firm opposition to what he termed the Israeli elite's aggression against Lebanon. It was not clear whether Mr Chávez would take in Beirut while in the Middle East. Nor was it certain whether he would pay a surprise visit to Pyongyang. A meeting with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il has been mooted. Venezuela was perhaps the only country to support North Korea's recent missile tests.
But Mr Chávez has confirmed he will visit Moscow to sign a contract with President Vladimir Putin, for the acquisition of at least 24 Sukhoi fighter jets. He is also hoping to reach a deal with Moscow to send a Venezuelan officer into space.
In Minsk, he will meet Belarus's President Alexander Lukashenko, and in Hanoi, Vietnam's President Nguyen Minh Triet.
Mr Chávez's domestic critics often complain about his extensive foreign trips. After this tour, he will have spent more than a full year abroad out of his seven years in power.

Carlos Berrizbeitia, an opposition leader who has monitored Mr Chávez's foreign tours, claimed this trip would cost $2.8m (¬ 2.2m, £1.5m).
The money would be better spent on creating jobs, as a majority of Venezuelans are unemployed.