Venezuela's Maduro visits Algeria

Algeria’s president met on Thursday with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was welcomed with pomp as he visited the North African nation.

Algeria and Venezuela agreed to boost their economic cooperation.

"We have agreed to reinforce economic cooperation between our countries," Tebboune said at a joint press conference broadcast by state TV after their meeting.

He also announced that direct flights would soon be launched between Algiers and Caracas.

Maduro said he was "very happy about this decision" and added that both governments wished to work together more closely, particularly on oil and gas.

Both countries depend heavily on energy exports and are members of the OPEC oil cartel.

Maduro had arrived overnight from Ankara, where he had sought to woo investors with talk of his country's rich oil, gas and gold reserves.

It comes amid a U.S. summit of the Americas in Los Angeles.

His visit to Algeria comes as some two dozen leaders have descended on Los Angeles for US President Joe Biden's Summit of the Americas, to which the leftist Venezuelan was among those not invited.

Venezuela, along with Cuba and Nicaragua, were not invited by the administration of President Joe Biden due to the problems with democracy and human rights in those countries.