CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has jokingly raised the possibility of teaming up with U.S. President Barack Obama to lobby for baseball and softball to be brought back to the Olympics.

Chavez made the remark during a televised speech, saying he's sorry that the two sports won't be played at the London Games. Baseball and softball were last played as medal events at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Chavez, a baseball fan, provoked laughter from aides when he said: "Let's go Obama, together. Alliances can be made." He said that Fidel and Raul Castro of Cuba would also "fight for baseball and softball."

Relations have been tense for years between Chavez and the U.S. government.