Venezuela's Chavez to skip U.N. General Assembly, cites packed agenda at home

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is a no-show at the U.N. General Assembly, one year after he captured the world's attention by calling President George W. Bush “the devil.”

Chavez blamed a packed agenda in Venezuela and sent Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro in his place, the state-run Bolivarian News Agency reported Tuesday.

Still, Chavez is watching closely – he said he spoke with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after the Iranian president faced tough questions in a showdown at Columbia University in New York. It seemed like “an ambush,” Chavez said.

“I congratulate him, in the name of the Venezuelan people, before a new aggression of the U.S. empire,” Chavez told state television late Monday.

Chavez said he regrets not being able to attend because the assembly serves as a forum “in the very cave of the empire” where leaders can unmask U.S. government hostility toward other nations.

The Iranian and Venezuelan leaders are close allies, united in their antagonism toward Washington.

Ahmadinejad plans to travel to Bolivia on Wednesday to sign cooperation accords with President Evo Morales, then visit Chavez in Venezuela briefly on his way back to Iran.