Monday, April 6, 2009

Venezuela and Iran seal the deal

Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

China_South America: News and Analysis has been following the development of this new "10-year strategic alliance" between Venezuela and Iran. For an old post on this topic click here.

My personally derived conclusion...It is all talk.

Economically speaking Chavez knows the people of Venezuela would be far better off buying tractors (among the many things it needs) from China, Japan or even the United States than they will be from Iran.

Second, both countries are endowed with very healthy supplies of crude oil so there's no need for one another on the energy front.

Politically, Chavez and Ahmadinejad succeed in aggravating the US.

The two, also make a point that developing countries, even ones which make the US mad can and should be allowed to cooperate with one another in achieving sustainable development.

Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

The bi-national bank being created with the initial funding of $1.6 billion sounds nice, and might actually help the two considering international lenders are increasingly scared of Venezuela and are banned from doing business with Iran.

However, whether this "10-year strategic alliance" will actually help either country in their path toward development is probably unlikely.