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Venezuela's Chavez to give energy aid to Mali

By Sadio Kante

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Venezuela will aid Mali's energy sector and the two nations aim to establish air links and abolish visa restrictions, a senior official said on Tuesday as President Hugo Chavez was due to visit the African country.

Accused by U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday of undermining democracy, Chavez is expected to meet Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure on Wednesday in the latest stage of a world tour that has included Russia, Iran and Vietnam.

Chavez, making his second visit to West Africa in a month, will seal a number of deals with Mali, landlocked and dirt poor despite being Africa's third biggest gold producer, Venezuelan Deputy Foreign Minister Reinaldo Bolivar told Reuters.

"These accords cover notably the abolition of visa services between Caracas and Bamako, allowing the countries of Latin America to be linked to Africa, and on Venezuelan support to Mali in the energy sector," Bolivar said in an interview in Bamako, where he was preparing the ground for Chavez.

Bolivar gave no further details on the energy assistance.

"An accord relating to the opening of an air link between Caracas and Bamako should also be signed during the visit by the Venezuelan president," he said.

Venezuela would also give 20 bursaries to allow Malian students to study agriculture in Caracas, he added.

Chavez is expected to arrive in Bamako late on Tuesday, and to hold talks with President Toure on Wednesday before flying to nearby Benin.

Chavez was a guest of honour at the African Union summit in early July in nearby Gambia, where he urged Africa to resist American "neo-colonialism" and called for closer ties between Latin America and the 53-member African Union.

Under Chavez Venezuela, the world's fifth biggest oil exporter, has offered friendly states help developing their energy sectors.

Landlocked Mali and other oil importing countries across Africa have found oil prices increasingly hard to bear as world markets have soared in the past couple of years, forcing up the price of imports.

Chavez' left-wing and anti-American rhetoric has angered the Bush administration, and he has further ruffled feathers with his plans to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and his efforts to buy billions of dollars worth of arms from Russia.

Washington has banned U.S. manufacturers from selling arms to Venezuela. Bush said on Monday that although he did not see Chavez as a military threat, he viewed him "as a threat of undermining democracy".