LUDMILA VINOGRADOFF | CARACAS Actualizado Sábado, 26-09-09 a las 18:57

The Libyan colonel, Muammar Gaddafi, is one of the most highly anticipated guests at the Africa-South America Summit which is being held this weekend on Margarita, a paradisiacal island situated to the north west of Venezuela, where he has set up his Jaima, or Bedouin tent in which he received President Hugo Chavez.

The president of Malawi, Bingu Wa Mutharika, and president of Mali, Amadou Tournami, with whom Venezuela established diplomatic relations in 2007, were the first to arrive to the summit this past Thursday night.

Gaddafi arrived yesterday afternoon and the first thing he did was set up his tent while counselors were meeting ti hammer out the details of the summit between the South Americans and the African group whose representatives come from Nigeria, Brazil, Ecuador, Libya and the African Union.

The Venezuelan host has cultivated friendships and alliances with the invited leaders, especially with his military peers who hold complete power in their respective countries.

The Libyan, Gaddafi, has just come from the annual assembly of the United Nations in New York where had given a controversial (sic) speech. Of all the guests on the island of Margarita, the Libyan leader stands out with the most longevity - he has remained in power for 40 years.

He is followed by Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe – 29 years in power – who has also come from participating in the event at the UN. The Venezuelan president counts him among his friends and has decorated him with Liberator Medal and the Sword of Bolivar.

Lieutenant Teodoro Obiang, of Guinea – 30 years in power – also stands out for his iron-fisted regime. He has a long list of complaints for human rights violations in his country.

The lieutenant general and politician Omar Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir of Sudan – 20 years in power – has an arrest warrant hanging over his head issued by the International Criminal Court for presumed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the region of Darfur. Chavez has expressed his admiration for Bashir, and rules out turning him over to international authorities should he accept the invitation to the summit on Margarita.

Other leaders who remain perpetually in power:

Field Marshall Ibrahim Bare Mainassara of Niger – 13 years in power – who assumed the presidency through a coup d’etat, perpetrated in 1996.

Yahya Jamneh of Gambia – 15 years in power. He controls the parliament and has problems with human rights in his country.

President Joseph Kabila of the Congo. He also controls all public institutions.

General Mohammed Abdelazzis in Mauritania, who came to power through a coup d’etat.

President Faure Eyadima of Togo carried out a coup d’etat upon the death of his father.

President Abdelasis Bouteflika of Algeria – 10 years in power – has been repeatedly re-elected to the office. He is known buyer of Russian arms.

(My own translation)