HAVANA, Jan 16 (Reuters) -- Cuban leader Fidel Castro greeted
                  Venezuelan President-elect Hugo Chavez with a bear hug Saturday night on
                  his arrival in Havana for a visit aimed at helping the fledgling Colombian
                  peace process.

                  "I come to talk about peace. I am a carrier of the flag of peace, especially
                  given the presence in the island (of Cuba) of Colombian President Andres
                  Pastrana," a beaming Chavez told reporters after a brief chat with Castro on
                  the runway of Havana's Jose Marti international airport.

                  The three Latin American leaders were due to hold a lunch meeting on
                  Sunday, where they will discuss possible support roles for Cuba and
                  Venezuela in Colombia's recently-opened talks with leftist guerrillas.

                  Pastrana is hoping to set up a "group of friendly countries," and Castro and
                  Chavez-- who both command respect among Colombia's rebels because of
                  their leftist roots-- have proffered their help to end a conflict that has caused
                  35,000 deaths in the last decade alone.

                  "As a follower of (19th century independence hero Simon) Bolivar, a friend
                  of Colombia, and a Latin American brother, I am prepared to go wherever
                  necessary and speak with whomever necessary to promote and achieve
                  peace in Colombia as quickly as possible," added Chavez, flanked by
                  Castro, without giving details of what role he could play in the Colombian
                  situation.

                  Chavez, who led a failed military coup in Venezuela in 1992, first visited
                  Cuba in 1994 soon after release from jail, and his sympathies toward Castro
                  were a factor his enemies sought unsuccessfully to exploit in the recent
                  election.

                  Both men are referred to by their supporters as "El Comandante."

                  After his arrival from Canada at around 9:30 p.m. (2130 GMT), Chavez
                  first hugged his wife Marisabel Rodriguez de Chavez before also warmly
                  embracing a smiling Castro, dressed in his trademark olive-green military
                  fatigues.

                  Chavez added that his visit to Cuba was also intended to promote
                  integration so that "this 21st century can be a much better century ... where
                  the Latin American and Caribbean peoples may lift the flags, the flags of
                  happiness as Simon Bolivar used to say."

                  Castro declined to speak with journalists, preferring to hurry Chavez on his
                  way with a tap of his watch.

                  The 72-year-old Cuban leader was culminating a busy week's diplomacy in
                  which he has entertained two heads of state-- Surinamese President Jules
                  Wydenbosch came before Pastrana-- and Belgian Foreign Minister Erik
                  Derycke.

                  They are the latest in a string of high-ranking officials and personalities who
                  have streamed to Cuba in the year since Pope John Paul's historic visit to the
                  communist-run island.

                  Last year's large number of high-profile visitors to Cuba varied from world
                  leaders like the pontiff and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, to
                  Hollywood stars Jack Nicholson and Matt Dillon, and supermodels Naomi
                  Campbell and Kate Moss.

                  Cuba is delighted with the world's increased opening up to the island--
                  especially from western countries-- saying this shows the failure of U.S.-led
                  efforts to isolate Havana.

                  But Castro's critics, in and outside Cuba, are frustrated he is making
                  diplomatic advances without conceding any of the reforms to his one-party
                  socialist system or penal code that many of his visitors are in favour of.

                  Despite other nations' policies of constructive engagement with Cuba,
                  Washington maintains a 37-year-old economic embargo in a bid to force
                  Castro into change.

                   Copyright 1999 Reuters.