[continued from previous message] 
  
 Mr Chavez called into Jamaica for a meeting with Prime Minister Portia 
 Simpson Miller on his way home from Cuba. The Caribbean nation is another 
 which benefits from cheap rates on Venezuelan oil. 
  
 CHINA, 22 AUGUST 
  
 After a brief pause from travelling, Latin America's most-travelled head of 
 state went back on the road for a six-day trip to China. 
  
 He came away with a major energy deal, which should reduce Venezuela's 
 reliance on US as a market for its oil, a joint deal to construct a new 
 refinery in Venezuela and Chinese help to build a new fleet of oil tankers. 
  
 Mr Chavez hailed a "strategic alliance" between China and Venezuela that 
 will meet Beijing's energy needs "today, tomorrow and always". 
  
 The $5bn investment promised by China outweighs all the money Mr Chavez 
 spent on arms and in granting cut-price oil deals while on his world tour, 
 Mr Birns says, making China the "high-water mark" of his travels. 
  
 Mr Chavez also declared he had secured Beijing's backing for his UN Security 
 Council seat bid. 
  
 MALAYSIA, 27 AUGUST 
  
 Trade ties and support for Venezuela at the UN were central to Mr Chavez's 
 trip to Malaysia. 
  
 Speaking in Kuala Lumpur, he urged businesses to invest in Venezuela rather 
 than Europe or the US and offered help in exploring potential Malaysian oil 
 reserves. 
  
 He seems successfully to have secured Malaysia's backing for his campaign to 
 secure a UN Security Council seat, says Mr Birns. 
  
 SYRIA, 30 AUGUST 
  
 The Venezuelan president stirred up controversy with a visit to Damascus in 
 which he said he and Syria would strive to build a world free of US 
 domination. 
  
 The trip was not particularly important in terms of trade, says Mr Birns, 
 but fitted into Mr Chavez's desire to build an anti-American strategic 
 alliance. 
  
 He will also hope to count on Syria's support in his quest for a UN Security 
 Council seat. 
  
 ANGOLA, 31 AUGUST 
  
 Angola's sizeable oil reserves could make it a useful ally for Venezuela. 
  
 In the first visit by a Venezuelan head of state since Angola won 
 independence in 1975, Mr Chavez pledged a new political, social and economic 
 partnership. 
  
 The southern African nation may in return back Venezuela's attempt to win a 
 UN Security Council seat. 
  
  
 Whatever their success, Mr Chavez's efforts abroad are unlikely to have much 
 impact at home in Venezuela, adds Mr Birns. 
  
 Since first taking power in 1999, he has spent some 365 days away on foreign 
 trips - but as long as oil revenue keeps bank-rolling domestic social 
 projects, Mr Chavez's popularity looks set to continue. 
  
 DUH.... 
  
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