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Gambia: Venezuela's Chavez cements ties with Gambia, says U.S. losing ground

CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Monday said the U.S. is losing ground internationally as his government cemented ties with African ally Gambia by signing a series of cooperation accords.

"Little by little, the U.S. empire has been losing positions," Chavez said at a signing ceremony. "The governments that are most committed to the empire are weakening more every day. It isn't good business to be an ally of the United States."

Under the accords, Venezuela pledged cooperation in areas from health care to energy with the tiny West African country.

Chavez, whose government is boosted by booming oil revenues, has sought to build closer ties with many African countries, just as he has distanced himself from the United States.

"We want to create a bridge that's going to liberate the South," Gambian President Yahya Jammeh said at the signing ceremony after closed-door talks with Chavez.