< ! -- Commented out : President Chávez 's first trip to Libya occurred in 2001 after a personal invitation he received in 1999 from Muammar Gaddafi . During this short visit , they discussed the international situation , declining oil prices , and OPEC production levels . Felipe Mujica , leader of the opposition party MAS , accused Chávez of not reporting his trip to Libya and hiding it under a tour of Europe and Africa . In 2004 , Muammar al-Gaddafi awarded Chávez in the city of Tripoli the " Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights " and Chávez called him a " friend and brother " , affirming they " shared the same social view " . In 2006 , during Chávez 's third visit , the leaders signed a general treaty of economical and cultural cooperation , and Chávez called for a mutual union against " American hegemony " . Venezuela 's former ambassador to Libya , Julio César Pineda , said in 2003 that Chávez was " coordinating an anti-American strategy with terrorist states " following his visit to Libya . Libya had been moving to repair ties with the United States ( by offering compensations for the Lockerbie bombing , etc. ) at the time that Chávez was setting himself up as South America 's leading opponent of the Bush administration . Since the 2011 Libyan Civil War , Chávez was outspoken in support of Gaddafi and offered to broker talks between him and the opposition . Following Gaddafi 's death , Chávez said in a statement " We shall remember Gaddafi our whole lives as a great fighter , a revolutionary and a martyr . They assassinated him . It is another outrage . " Venezuela and Madagascar established diplomatic ties on 17 November 2008 in a ceremony presided over by Reinaldo Bolivar , Venezuela 's vice foreign minister for Africa , and Zina Adrianarivelo-Razifi , Madagascar 's ambassador to Venezuela . The two officials signed legally sanctioned the move by signing a joint communique in Caracas . Bolivar said that until 1998 , the Venezuelan government had not made an effort to approach African countries , though , since May 2005 , Venezuela had started to take the prerogative to deepen political and diplomatic measures with the African continent . In this Venezuela added eleven embassies to the seven that had already existed in Africa . Razafi touched on the common themes Venezuela has made with other newer partners , namely that both suffered colonization and possess similarities in geography and history , as well as the possession of mineral and agriculture resources
Lockerbie bombing
Pan Am Flight 103
Foreign policy of the Hugo Chávez administration