Hugo Chavez Has A New Pal

Hugo Chavez has a brand new playmate. Syrian president Bashar Assad. Chavez says he and Assad are united against America.

"We want to cooperate to build a new world where states' and people's self-determination are respected," Chavez said after a 2 1/2-hour meeting with Assad at the presidential palace.

Speaking at Damascus airport on his arrival late Tuesday, Chavez said both countries agreed to stand up to the United States.

"We have the same political vision and we will resist together the American imperialist aggression," he said.

Pictures of Chavez and Assad lined the streets of downtown Damascus, and thousands of Syrians waved banners and Venezuelan flags along the route Chavez took to his meeting with Assad. The two leaders strolled down a red carpet leading into the People's Palace as a 21-gun salute was fired.

With both presidents looking on, delegates from the two countries signed a total of 13 political and economic agreements, and Assad said Damascus supports Caracas' candidacy to be a non-permanent member of the Security Council in 2007-8.

The Syrian leader thanked Chavez for his support for Middle Eastern nations, telling reporters that the leftist president had made "great stands" in support of Arab causes.

What is building here is a totalitarian alliance. The comparisons to 1938 are more than apt.