This paper traces the genealogy of diplomatic relations between Syria and Venezuela from their early mutual recognition to current alignments in their quest for a ‘multipolar anti-imperialism’. Their initial official contact occurred in the context of thirdworldism, which brought together new states with diverse and eventually divergent histories and resources. Relations between Syria and Venezuela remained distant yet relevant given the common thread of oil as a strategic resource in their development efforts of the 1970’s and 80’s. As an Arab state in the line of fire in the Arab-Israeli conflict, Syria benefitted from subsidies by oil producing countries, while remittances sent home by migrants who flocked to participate in the blossoming Gulf economy were another important channel for the redistribution of oil wealth. Venezuela’s prosperity, just as the economic crisis that resulted with the collapse of oil prices in the mid-eighties, was tied by an umbilical cord to the avatars of Middle East regional politics. In the past decade, Middle Eastern migrants in Venezuela anchor discourses proposing an affective link which naturalizes ties between states with converging agendas. Migrants and their descendants have come to mediate as privileged partners in the new state projects of interregional rapprochement. This occurs in the context of Chavez’ efforts to harness his nation’s oil wealth for his project of a Revolucion Bolivariana which have led him to renew OPEC. His interest in the Middle East fits into a new trend in Latin American politics, which prioritizes south-south cooperation through new international forums that include ASPA and the incorporation of various Latin American countries into the Arab League. Chavez has been hailed by Latin American, Spanish and Middle Eastern media as an Arab hero, earning the title of Chavez of Arabia and establishing in partnership with Bashar Al-Assad during the latter’s 2010 Latin American tour an ‘Axis of the Brave’ as a counterpoint to an American ‘Axis of Evil’.