Venezuela
Says Ready For South
America-Africa Summit
Caracas - Venezuela is
ready to hold the second South
America-Africa Summit on Sept. 26-27, local
authorities said on Sunday.
Key topics for the summit are education,
health, energy, communication and the world
economic crisis.
A Sunday multicultural parade featuring
peoples from both continents marked the
start of a cultural festival dedicated to
the summit that will take place on Margarita
Island, a tourist resort in northeastern
Venezuela.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said during
the show that the summit embodied
multi-polarity seeking to rescue the
identity and history of the world's poor.
Chavez will co-chair the summit with
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, the
current president of the Union of South
American Nations.
A total of 66 heads of states will begin
arriving in Venezuela on Friday, led by
Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi, the current
chairman of the 53-nation African Union.
Earlier this week, Reinaldo Bolivar, who is
in charge of African affairs at Venezuela's
Foreign Ministry, said the summit was the
ideal forum for addressing the shortage of
maritime and air routes linking the two
continents.
"This holds back practically every trade
relationship between the two regions, which
are characterized by their natural resources
and energy wealth," he added.
The first summit took place in Nigerian
capital Abuja in November 2006.
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