Hugo Chavez sends solidarity to Gaddafi, Syria

[The Northerner]

(Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday he was praying for Libya's deposed leader Muammar Gaddafi and also sent a message of solidarity to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against "Yankee" aggression.

Chavez -- who has inherited Fidel Castro's mantle as Washington's main irritant in Latin America -- views the wave of uprisings in the Arab world as Western-led destabilization and has been a strong ally of Gaddafi.

"The Libyans are resisting the invasion and aggression. I ask God to protect the life of our brother Muammar Gaddafi. They're hunting him down to kill him," he said.

"No one knows where Gaddafi is, I think he went off to the desert ... to lead the resistance. What else can he do?"

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/02/us-venezuela-chavez-idUSTRE7901QW20111002

[provis99]

1. that cancer has obviously affected his brain.