Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez is embarking on a world tour, first stopping off in Cuba to visit Fidel Castro, who has been too busy blogging and prank calling Sarah Palin to make public appearances lately. After Cuba, Chavez will head on over to Beijing and Moscow, making time for a stop in Paris at the invitation of President Nicolas Sarkozy. And they’re all gonna do shots as the U.S. goes down in flames!:

The plans are that Chavez will ink energy agreements in Moscow.

Chavez pledged a few days earlier that his country would set up a joint venture with Russia to make drilling equipment for oil fields. According to Chavez, they are willing to produce oil production equipment in Venezuela.

Three big agreements of Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA and Russia’s TNK-BP, LUKOIL and Gazprom were sealed in Moscow in July, during the previous visit of Chavez.

Meanwhile, our potential next President still somehow equates Spanish PM Zapatero to Hugo Chavez. But oil and energy aren’t the only topics Venezuela and Russia are discussing:

Venezuela recently hosted a pair of Russian strategic bombers and is preparing to conduct a joint naval exercise with Russia.

“Not only Venezuela, but Latin America as a whole, needs friends like Russia now as we are shedding this [US] domination,” Chávez told Russia’s Vesti 24 television. “We need Russia for economic and social development, for all-around support, for the life of the peoples of our continent, for peace.”

Peace… through arms. But, hey, guys! Worry not. Everything’s gonna be just fine. Some of us can see Russia from our caribou pelt-lined Alaskan tanning beds. So we’ll totally be able to see everything coming.

Update!: And now, apparently, Venezuela is going to purchase Chinese combat planes. Again, it’s all for whirled peas. So relax:

Chavez, a staunch foe of the US government, confirmed that during his stay in Beijing he will purchase 24 K-8 aircraft “to train fighter pilots.” The planes could be part of Venezuela’s air force by next year.

The president also confirmed that while in Beijing he will arrange the construction of tanker vessels in Chinese shipyards, with the aim of installing a shipyard in Venezuela in the near future.

These plans come in addition to the construction of a refinery in China to process oil from Venezuela, and plans to create a bi-national company to install a refinery in the remote oil-rich Orinoco region in eastern Venezuela.

But do lets remain focused on Bristol Palin’s pregnancy, ok?

Chavez En Route to Moscow [Kommersant]
Chávez: Latin America needs Russia [Boston.com]
Venezuela to buy Chinese combat planes: Chavez [brietbart]