President of Venezuela backs recognition of independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez considers Georgia's leader a “puppet” of Washington and is backing Russia in its conflict with Georgia. Chavez declared in his weekly national broadcast that the Russians “did what they had to do” in response to what he called a military provocation in the Georgian province of South Ossetia. Chavez accused Washington of sparking the conflict, saying Georgia's troops were armed and trained by the United States. He did not elaborate, but added that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is “nothing but a puppet of the U.S. Empire”.