The Green Star

The president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Comandante Hugo Chávez, communicated this Good Friday, 6 April 2012, with the president of the Syrian Arab Republic, Bashar al-Assad, with whom he had a telephone conversation in the afternoon.

The two presidents, who are united by long-standing personal brotherhood, said they continued to closely follow the news of each other’s countries, pleased to be able to exchange, once again, firsthand impressions at the highest level.

President Bashar al-Assad inquired about the health of President Hugo Chávez, who informed his brother Syrian president that he had been successfully following the prescribed treatment, thus completing on time all the stages of the strict medical program.  President Assad added his prayers to those of so many others today who are following President Hugo Chávez’s process of healing and full recovery.

The heads of state shared information about the political and security situation in Syria and in the Middle East region, especially the Syrian government’s success in containing the bands of armed terrorists threatening the peace and tranquility of the Syrian people, seeking in vain to obstruct the progress of political reforms pushed forward by the government of Bashar al-Assad.

President Hugo Chávez expressed his full support for the stability of the great Syrian Arab Republic, which has always been the heart of the Arab peoples’ struggle for sovereignty and against imperialism.  In this regard, the two leaders agreed that the positive role played by the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China in the Middle East at this conjuncture should be highlighted.

Before fraternally ending the conversation in solidarity, President Bashar al-Assad assured his Venezuelan counterpart that the next few days would see new advances in the internal situation of Syria.  The two leaders agreed to maintain frequent communication and coordinate their actions in defense of the dignity of their peoples.

Caracas, 6 April 2012

The original communiqué “Gobierno Bolivariano expresa pleno respaldo al pueblo sirio” was published on the Web site of the Venezuelan Ministry of Communication and Information (www.minci.gob.ve) on 7 April 2012.  Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi.