Belarus’ PM defies sanctions, seeks projects relaunch during Caracas visit

July 16, Pozirk. Both Belarus and Venezuela are today under serious pressure which has nothing to do with democracy or human rights, Prime Minister Raman Hałoŭčanka told Ricardo Menéndez, vice president of the Venezuelan Council of Ministers, the Belarusian government’s press office reports.

“Their [the Western leaders’] goal is the same – to subjugate those countries and peoples who dare to pursue an independent course in foreign and domestic policy,” he stressed.

Despite “the very difficult environment” associated with Western sanctions, Minsk has managed to extract benefits by boosting its industrial production and developing new sectors of the economy, the official noted.

The current visit by the Belarusian delegation to Venezuela should help identify new ways of cooperation and “find mechanisms to relaunch the most important projects for the Venezuelan economy,” Hałoŭčanka said.

If old financial arrangements did not work for some reason, we have to find a new one, he said in a reference to Belarusian projects that had been frozen in Venezuela after the death of President Hugo Chavez.

Belarus is interested in Venezuela’s briquetted iron, aluminum, coffee and cocoa beans, he added.

The Belarusian official announced that the governments will draft a 10-year strategic plan to boost ties.

Hałoŭčanka also met Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, who invited Alaksandar Łukašenka to visit his country. “Tell President Łukašenka the following: I will be waiting for him here with a very good lunch, and everything he will taste will be locally produced,” Maduro told Hałoŭčanka in Caracas yesterday.

In turn, the Belarusian official conveyed Łukašenka’s “support and confidence” in Maduro’s victory in the upcoming presidential election scheduled for July 28.

Also read: Belarus-Venezuela relations get boost with aviation talks