PRESIDENTS PLEDGE TO FIGHT DRUGS

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) -- The presidents of Venezuela and
the Dominican Republic pledged Saturday to combat drug trafficking and to
fight government corruption in Latin America.

President Hugo Chavez also used the three-day official visit to defend his
leftist government -- which some have criticized as autocratic -- saying
democracy has "never existed" in Venezuela.

The visit comes as Chavez has tried to consolidate Venezuela's leadership
in the region. Dominican President Hipolito Mejia's populist center-left
government could be one ally in Chavez's quest to unite Latin America to
counterbalance U.S. influence.

Chavez and Mejia committed to sharing information on drug traffickers and
the "scourge of drugs" in the region, and also said they would lead a
public crusade to help other Latin American countries detect and eradicate
corruption.

"Corruption destroys the moral order and justice, and undermines the
legitimacy of our democratic institutions," the presidents said in a joint
statement issued Saturday.

Chavez's detractors have criticized his alliance with Cuban President Fidel
Castro's communist government, and have said the Venezuelan president
usurped legal and legislative power in Caracas.

"I couldn't threaten democracy, because you can't threaten something that
never existed," Chavez said in an address Friday at the National Assembly
in Santo Domingo.

He said past Venezuelan leaders feigned democratic stances while using
their posts to funnel off the country's oil wealth.

A former paratrooper who led a failed coup in 1992, Chavez rode a wave of
discontent to the presidency in 1998, promising to reverse decades of
corruption and economic mismanagement.

He has since radically reformed Venezuela, rewriting the constitution and
replacing the opposition-controlled Congress and Supreme Court through a
series of elections and referendums.

Chavez has used Venezuela's oil wealth to build his diplomatic stature. He
signed a pact last year to provide oil to 12 Latin American and Caribbean
countries -- including the Dominican Republic -- under favorable financial
conditions.