Venezuela's Maduro globe trots: building regional ties or a domestic distraction?

[Zorro]

After a stop in Uruguay, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro was received in Buenos Aires today by Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in the Argentine presidential palace, La Casa Rosada.

Speaking on the tarmac of the city airport, Mr. Maduro recalled that former President Hugo Chávez "deeply loved" Argentina, and told local press he came to "ratify that love."

In his first official tour abroad, Venezuela's new leader is visiting Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil in hopes of strengthening relations and deepening cooperation within the South American trade block, Mercosur. However, while a domestic dispute over the legality of Maduro's presidential victory continues to drag on at home, analysts say Maduro's tour is more about saving face domestically than improving relations abroad.

"When there's problems domestically, there's nothing quite like an international tour to make a president look presidential," says Christopher Sabatini, senior director of policy at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas in New York.

http://news.yahoo.com/venezuelas-maduro-globe-trots-building-regional-ties-domestic-203701386.html

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Where "globe" is "South America"

Although I do understand the vast disappointment after yet another failure at the ballot box for the right.

[Zorro]

2. Well it is a little difficult for Manuro to visit his buddy Bashar in Syria right now

[David__77]

3. Thankfully, Maduro has plenty of friends among heads of state, from Argentina to Syria.

It's a good thing.