Venezuela urges EU, U.S. to stop military intervention in Libya

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Monday repeated requests that the United States and the European Union (EU) stop military intervention in the Libya. He said Caracas "insists" that western countries operating under the forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) put an end "to this madness of war" against forces of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The international community should instead work on creating an environment that facilitates negotiations for a lasting peace agreement, Chavez told the official Venezuelan Television network in an interview. He also called on other South American nations to collaborate "before all this barbarism" in laying a groundwork for a peaceful solution to armed conflicts in Libya. Chavez said that as Africa and South America alone account for 40 percent of the world's total reserves of crude oil, countries of these continents have been constantly under the scrutiny of "imperial powers".