HUGO Chavez, the ardently anti-American President of Venezuela, arrived in Russia late last night to sign a billion-dollar arms deal that has infuriated and alarmed the US. The self-styled leftist revolutionary will sign an agreement with President Vladimir Putin to buy 30 Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets and 30 military helicopters worth $US1billion. The two leaders will also discuss plans to build two Kalashnikov factories in Venezuela - to add to the 100,000 Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles Venezuela has bought from Russia in the past year. The arms deals - and the visit by Mr Chavez - are the latest evidence of Mr Putin's drive to re-establish Russia as a counterbalance to the West in international affairs. But they threaten to sour relations with Washington just a week after Mr Putin and President George W. Bush publicly reaffirmed their friendship at the G8 summit in St Petersburg. The US has repeatedly asked Russia to reconsider its arms sales to Venezuela, which the State Department says does not co-operate in the fight against terrorism.
The two leaders will also discuss plans to build two Kalashnikov factories in Venezuela - to add to the 100,000 Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles Venezuela has bought from Russia in the past year.
The arms deals - and the visit by Mr Chavez - are the latest evidence of Mr Putin's drive to re-establish Russia as a counterbalance to the West in international affairs.
But they threaten to sour relations with Washington just a week after Mr Putin and President George W. Bush publicly reaffirmed their friendship at the G8 summit in St Petersburg.
The US has repeatedly asked Russia to reconsider its arms sales to Venezuela, which the State Department says does not co-operate in the fight against terrorism.
A delegation of dignitaries including Volgograd Governor Nikolay Maksyuta and the Blue Flow, a Cossack band, met the Venezuelan president at the airport of Volgograd. After the president stepped onto the ladder, Maksyuta rushed to hug and kiss him. Hugo Chavez greeted Nikolay Maksyuta like an old friend and the Blue Flow stroke up a Cossack song. They gave Hugo Chavez a glass of vodka on a saber, and the leader drank it in one gulp. (...)The Venezuelan leader said that he was going to discuss in Moscow the construction of a pipe plant in Venezuela for a stunning 8,000 km-long pipeline that would run throughout the whole Latin America and would cost some $20 billion. Hugo Chavez reported that he was planning "another project with the share of RUSAL" but gave no details. "We are trying to break the American blockade," Chavez said. "They want to disarm us and reign over the whole world." (...)Chavez repeatedly refers to the motive that drives him to buy more Russian arms -"the threat of American military invasion." He says Washington has mapped out a plan of the attack on Venezuela, and Caracas is familiar with the details. Hugo Chavez frequently instruct his people on how they should prepare to hold the line against the United States - blow up oil deposits, go to the mountains and "defend every street, every hill and every corner" with Kalashnikovs from Russia.
(...)The Venezuelan leader said that he was going to discuss in Moscow the construction of a pipe plant in Venezuela for a stunning 8,000 km-long pipeline that would run throughout the whole Latin America and would cost some $20 billion. Hugo Chavez reported that he was planning "another project with the share of RUSAL" but gave no details. "We are trying to break the American blockade," Chavez said. "They want to disarm us and reign over the whole world."
(...)Chavez repeatedly refers to the motive that drives him to buy more Russian arms -"the threat of American military invasion." He says Washington has mapped out a plan of the attack on Venezuela, and Caracas is familiar with the details. Hugo Chavez frequently instruct his people on how they should prepare to hold the line against the United States - blow up oil deposits, go to the mountains and "defend every street, every hill and every corner" with Kalashnikovs from Russia.
Don't they say "keep your friends close and your enemies closer"? The US should be engaging Venezuela instead of pushing it into Russia's arms like they did Castro. Nothing is 'mere'. — Richard P. Feynman
