Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday offered to help develop Venezuela's space industry on his first visit to the country aimed at deepening military, energy and financial ties.
"We could even install a satellite launcher here and a factory. We are already doing so with China, but Russia is offering to support Venezuela to build its own (space) industry," said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Putin was received with military honors Friday at Caracas international airport by Chavez, a leftist firebrand who has signed a dozen military agreements with Moscow since 2005, worth some US$4.4bn.
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"This is a truly important day for the country and for Latin America. It is a visit of great importance. We are forging, like steel, a new multipolar world," Chavez said late Thursday in a televised address.
Russia thanked for protection
Last week, in announcing Putin's first visit to Latin America's biggest oil producer, Chavez thanked Russia for helping Venezuela "bolster its defensive potential" in the face of "threats" from the United States.
Bolivian President Evo Morales was also in Caracas and was expected to seek a US$100m loan from Russia to purchase military and other hardware, including an Antonov aircraft for the president's use, officials in La Paz said.
Venezuela also recently won a US$2bn credit from Russia to buy T72 armored vehicles and anti-aircraft systems, raising concerns in Washington, which has called for transparency.
Putin and Chavez's agenda began with a visit to a Russian merchant marine fishing vessel which will be used to train Venezuelan sailors.
From there, they were to place a wreath at the tomb of Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar, followed by a private meeting at the Miraflores presidential palace where they were to sign a series of agreements.
The accords will bring Venezuela "to the next phase of cooperation with Russia, which no longer will be limited to energy and military matters, but now also includes social, cultural and health issues," said Vice President Elias Jaua on state-run VTV television ahead of the visit.
Duo to resource-hunt
Topping the list is an agreement to set up a Russian-Venezuelan development bank to finance a joint venture for oil and gas exploration in eastern Venezuela's oil-rich Orinoco river basin.
The enterprise - 60 per cent owned by Venezuela, 40 per cent by a consortium of Russian companies - hopes to extract up to 450,000 barrels of oil per day from the Amazon region.
Putin and Chavez will also sign cooperation deals in agriculture, transportation, and the prevention of natural catastrophes, according to the meeting agenda.
US mocks space ambitions
But a US government spokesman on Friday made light of Venezuela's pursuit of cooperation with Russia on space, saying the South American nation would do better to look at more earthly concerns.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said the two nations had the right to pursue relations with whichever nations they chose, but questioned Venezuela's priorities.
"We would note that the government of Venezuela was largely closed this week due to energy shortages and to the extent that Venezuela is going to extend resources on behalf of its people, perhaps the focus should be more terrestrial than extraterrestrial."
Links between Venezuela and Russia have grown in recent years, with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev visiting Venezuela in late 2008 during joint naval exercises. Chavez visited Moscow in September, while Morales traveled to the Russian capital in mid-February.
Morales and Putin were expected to discuss their own joint venture for gas and oil exploration in Bolivia, which has the second largest natural gas reserves in Latin America.
