The contracts may get signed, but the aircraft will not ship. Spain, despite all the posturing, will in the end conclude that the price they will pay is not worth the price they will get.
Time to dst off the Monroe Doctrine. I would shoot down or sink any prohibited hardware delivered to Chavez.
Q: I’d like to ask. Are your governments concerned about charges of political meddling or perhaps trouble-making by President Chavez in the region? Are you worried about the purchase of 100,000 AK-47assault rifles?
Rumsfeld: Certainly I’m concerned. If one thinks about it, the discussion that’s taking place, as I understand it, is concerning something in the neighborhood of 100,000 AK-47s to be moved from Russia possibly to Venezuela. I don’t know if it’s firm, but I’ve read about it and heard it discussed. Not just in the press, but bilaterally. I can’t imagine what’s going to happen to 100,000 AK-47s. I can’t imagine why Venezuela needs 100, 000 AK-47s. I just hope that, personally hope, that it doesn’t happen. I can’t imagine that if it did happen, that it would be good for the hemisphere.
Hey Hugo! Bite Me!