Caracas  - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday called upon his followers "not to get overexcited" with incoming US President Barack Obama.

"Today is particularly significant at the international level because a new president takes over the United States presidency today. Let no one get overexcited, this is the North American empire," Chavez said.

The left-wing populist Chavez, who has had strong clashes with outgoing US President George W Bush in recent years, often refers to the United States as empire.

Caracas  - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday called for an end to the US embargo on Cuba and suggested a meeting between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and president-elect Barack Obama, who is to be inaugurated Tuesday.

Lula noted that differences between Caracas and Washington were largely because of outgoing US President George W Bush, and stressed that the "extraordinary importance that Venezuela has at this point" cannot be denied.

Caracas - Venezuela's parliament has paved the way for a planned referendum on changes to the constitution that would allow President Hugo Chavez unlimited terms of office.

The National Assembly on Wednesday night approved in a second and final reading the referendum for a constitutional amendment that would allow not only Chavez, but all of Venezuela's governors, members of parliament and mayors to seek re-election over an unlimited period.

The national electoral council was due on Friday to set the date for the new referendum, which had been planned for February 15.

London, Jan 12 : Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said it is unlikely that former Cuban President Fidel Castro would take part in a public event ever again, but that the revolutionary idol would live on beyond this "physical life".

"We already know the Fidel that walked the streets and towns at night, looking like a warrior in his uniform, hugging the people, will never be seen again. He will become a memory," Mr Chavez said on his weekly "Alo Presidente" radio talk show.

He has often visited Fidel, 82, where he is receiving medical attention since undergoing gastrointestinal surgery in July 2006.

Caracas - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday called the Israeli Army "cowardly" for its offensive in the Gaza Strip, and said the people of Israel should protest the operation that has killed more than 580 people.

"How cowardly is the Israeli Army. They attack a people that is exhausted, asleep, innocent, and they boast that they are defending their people," Chavez told reporters. "I call upon the people of Israel to rise against that government."

Caracas - Candidates allied with President Hugo Chavez won a majority of states in Venezuela's local elections Sunday, but the opposition took the capital city and the two most populous states.

The National Electoral Council said preliminary data gave the opposition victories in the states of Zulia, Miranda and Nueva Esparta, as well as the mayor's office of Caracas.

Council president Tibisay Lucena said the results in the states of Carabobo and Tachira were too close to call until all the votes could be counted.

She said the preliminary results were based on 95.6 per cent of the votes cast.