Moscow to respect Venezuelan people's choice

Russia respects the choice of the Venezuelan people on the upcoming presidential election, and hopes the process will advance without external interference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday. "We will respect the Venezuelan people's choice and expect that all those building relations with Venezuela will support it and that no attempts will be made to influence this choice," Lavrov told a local television station. He said the Venezuelan people could make a decision that "meets their aspirations and interests of strengthening our strategic partnership." The minister noted "under any circumstances, long-term investments will improve relations between countries," adding Moscow was willing to build relations with any leader of Venezuela to be elected by the people in the Latin American country. Describing the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died at 58 on Tuesday, as "a historic figure," Lavrov said more than 60 percent of the Venezuelans in a poll favor the continuation of the policy established by Chavez. "We presume that Chavez's policy was broadly supported in Latin America as well," the Interfax news agency quoted him as saying. Lavrov said, among numerous condolences heard in Venezuela and outside in recent days, Henrique Capriles, Chavez's rival in the last presidential elections, has made "a very appropriate statement." Capriles said in the statement that he "mourns this loss and emphasizing that Chavez has never been his enemy but his competitor." Chavez died Tuesday in a military hospital in Caracas, where he spent his last two weeks after he came back from Cuba on Feb. 18. According to Venezuela's Constitution, if the president is absent during the first four years of the constitutional term, there will be a new and direct general election within 30 days.