TT-Venezuela leaders meet

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela (right) and Prime Minister Patrick Manning greet each other with the good old Latin hug, shortly after the Venezuelan President arrived at Piarco Airport last night. It was a long wait to meet Chavez, who originally was scheduled to land at 4 pm, but did not arrive until around 8 pm. After a brief chat in Spanish with Venezuelan journalists, and meeting the group of local Ministers — Minister of Infrastructure, Dr Keith Rowley; Minister of Comm-unication and Information, Dr Lenny Saith; Minister of Energy, Eric Williams; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Knowlson Gift, and Trade Minister Ken Valley  — the visiting Chavez was whisked off to dinner with Prime Minister Manning. The Venezuelan President was scheduled to have a ‘working dinner’ with Prime Minister Manning last night. At 7 am today Chavez will attend a breakfast meeting hosted by Foreign Affairs Minister Gift, and will meet the media afterwards. He returns to Caracas before noon.