Venezuela's Chavez to Skip EU-Latin America Summit

CARACAS, Venezuela--Venezuela President Hugo Chavez won't be attending next week's European Union-Latin America summit in Madrid.

A statement late Friday from state-run news agency ABN didn't provide an explanation for why Mr. Chavez was skipping the event.

Representatives of more than 50 countries from the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean will meet Monday through Wednesday in Madrid, among them about 30 presidents and prime ministers.

A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Chavez and some other Latin American leaders said they may boycott the Madrid event if Honduran President Porfirio Lobo chose to attend. Mr. Chavez is still upset about the way Mr. Lobo's predecessor, leftist Manuel Zelaya, was ousted from power, although he also recognizes Mr. Lobo as Honduras's democratically elected president.

Amid the possible boycott, Mr. Lobo last week canceled plans to attend the EU-Latin American summit, saying he didn't want to be a cause of conflict. Still, he indicated he would attend a parallel meeting between the EU and Central American nations, also next week in Spain.

In Mr. Chavez' place at the Madrid meeting will be Francisco Arias Cardenas, Venezuela's vice chancellor for Latin America, the ABN statement said.