Source: UK Telegraph
In a gripping display of handshake diplomacy at Summit of the Americas in Trinidad, a beaming Mr Obama warmly greeted the socialist firebrand, who regularly denounced President George W Bush as "the devil".
Mr Obama went out of his way to walk across a hotel meeting room to greet Mr Chavez during opening ceremonies at the summit in Port of Spain on Friday night.
The Venezuelan president, who once famously claimed he could still "smell the sulphur" after speaking from the same podium as Mr Bush had used at the United Nations, responded in English: "I want to be your friend".
The Venezuelan government released photographs of the two men smiling and Mr Obama deploying one of his favourite gestures - putting a hand on Mr Chavez's shoulder.
The bonhomie continued as Saturday's summit meeting started. Mr Chavez presented his US counterpart with a book, The Open Veins of Latin America, by the Left-wing Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano. Mr Obama accepted the gift with a smile.
