jonathan

I thought to myself why Chavez is keep chatting with Castro all the
time and thanks Castro for sending more than 10000 doctors to the poor
to the remote area of Venezuela ...

Dahhhh. He knows that he will need them soon in a holes around Andes,
and since they are digging all the holes all over Venezuela and have
the master plan and the map ready for the hole call visit it only
makes sense to be thankful.

I have heard some of his holes are Haram style and Chavistas are
already there waiting on the Cuban doctors making sure they don't miss
any fun while digging there .....

Jonathan -


Chávez thanks Castro for doctors
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez thanks Fidel Castro for sending more
than 10,000 doctors to work in poor communities.


CARACAS - (AP) -- Chatting with Fidel Castro during his weekly
television show Sunday, President Hugo Chávez thanked the Cuban leader
for sending more than 10,000 doctors to work in poor communities
across Venezuela.

Chávez and Castro bantered for about 10 minutes on Venezuelan
television and radio after Chávez aides telephoned the Cuban president
in Havana. Chávez spoke to Castro on a speakerphone live on air.

Chávez announced the expansion of the Inside the Slum program, which
began in April with several hundred Cuban doctors in Caracas slums.
There are now 10,169 Cuban physicians nationwide, Chávez said.

''Well, Fidel . . . your support and the support of these true heroes
of Cuban medicine has been fundamental and essential,'' Chávez said.

Castro, who sounded hesitant and complained about the phone
connection, said Chávez had established himself as a leader of the
Third World.

''You are leaving an example not only for Latin America but for all of
the Third World,'' Castro said. ``I must express the admiration of all
our people for you.''

The two leaders have developed a strong friendship rooted in their
shared disdain for U.S. economic and political dominance and their
conviction that free-market policies have failed to lift millions of
Latin Americans from grinding poverty.

Chávez invited Castro to visit Venezuela and tour communities
benefiting from Inside the Slum. Castro said a visit ''wasn't
immediately possible,'' citing a heavy work load. It would be Castro's
fourth visit to Venezuela since Chávez took office in 1999.

Chávez's government has sent more than 4,000 needy Venezuelans to Cuba
for free medical treatment. Cuban teachers are training 100,000
Venezuelan volunteers for a national literacy campaign.

Venezuela, meanwhile, provides Cuba with crude oil under preferential
financial terms. Critics say Chávez's ties with Castro have
antagonized the United States, Venezuela's largest oil customer.

Opposition leaders insist the presence of Cuban doctors and teachers
is part of a plan to steer Venezuela toward Cuba-style socialism and
authoritarianism. Chávez denies such intentions, insisting he is
forging his own balance between socialism and capitalism.

Chávez's government has ignored a court order to suspend the ''Inside
the Slum'' initiative until the Cuban doctors take equivalency exams
required for foreign physicians to practice in Venezuela. The
government says suspending the program would leave thousands of
citizens without adequate healthcare.