Posted on 02/12/2005 6:07:23 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
The U.S. administration has made an official protest to Russia over the delivery to Venezuela of 100,000 Kalashnikov machineguns. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to comment on the affair on Thursday. Kommersant sources in the Federal Service for Military Technology Cooperation suggested that they simply want to squeeze Russia out of the market for political motives.
The contract for the purchase by Venezuela of 100,000 Kalashnikov AKMs for $50 million was signed during Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's visit to Moscow late last fall. The day after the contract was signed, the parliament of Colombia, which shares a border with Venezuela, condemned the deal, saying that Chavez is entering into an arms race. Chavez assured his neighbors that the weapons would be used exclusively for national defense and passions calmed down somewhat.
Now, when Moscow has already begun fulfilling the order, it has become known that Washington shares the alarm over it. The U.S. administration has made an official protest to Russia over the deliveries. According to the Washington Times, the United States is concerned that the arms sold by Russia to Venezuela may fall into the hands of ultra-leftist rebel groups. Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuelan ambassador in Washington quickly stated that were obtained exclusively for national defense purposes. He also emphasized that the Venezuelan government does not intend to provide weapons to revolutionary forces abroad.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused Kommersant's request for a comment Thursday, saying that an official reaction would probably come on Friday. OAO Kontsern Izhmash, according to Kommersant's information the producer of the machineguns intended for Venezuela, also refused to comment, referring questions to the Rosoboroneksport state company, which signed the contract for the weapons. A source at Rosoboroneksport said on condition of anonymity that there are no international sanctions against Venezuela and light arms, such as the Kalashnikov, do not fall under any categories of sales limitations. That means that there are no hindrances to sales of arms to that country. At the Federal Service for Military Technology Cooperation, they told Kommersant that this was obviously apolitically motivated attempt to squeeze Russia out of a market that it has long been active in.
Kalashnikov said he designed his legendary assault rifles as a defense weapon. "We sell weapons not for offensive but for defense purposes, and this is done in strict compliance with international standards and regulations. As far as I know, there are no restrictions on weapons supplies to Venezuela, and if that country decided to purchase our assault rifles, we can only be glad about this" - Interfax
Combined with THIS thread.....
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1342038/posts
I'm not feeling all warm and cozy right now.
These guns are not a problem for us, but they may be for Chavez's neighbors and his people.
I have a feeling that Chavez is going to solve Latin America's overpopulation problem.
That's $500 per gun. The Venezuelans are getting robbed! I can find Romanian AKs for half that here in Florida!
Kalashnikov stole the idea from a German weapon.
No, I'm pretty sure that the AKM is a 7.62mm and not an AK-74. In fact, I believe that most of the guns referred to as "AK-47s" are actually AKMs which were an improvement upon the original 47.
And full-auto from semi-auto for a Kalashnikov is not rocket science. Can't say how I know this though! ;-)
Which German weapon are you talking about? The Schmeiser? Maybe the idea of a simple, easy to dismantle gun, but the Kalashnikov is a supremely simple, easy to maintain gun. It's nowhere near as accurate as the M16 but it can be dragged through mud and swamp and still fire, be dismantled by a newbie and put together easily. That's why its so popular
To the untrained eye the AK-47 does resemble a German MP-44. However the similarity ends there. They were totally different weapons. The MP-44 was an expensive and complicated weapon wheras the AK was cheap, simple and durable.
The outcome would be the same, and the incremental loss of life would be minimal. The only way these weapons would have an impact is against their similarly under-trained, ill-led, otherwise poorly equipped and supplied neighbors in South America. The MSM continues to reflect their total ignorance of military operations.
For those out there with dial-up:
Also known as the MP-44.
Looks like they are still equipped with SKS rifles in that picture. Jeez! I didn't think any country used those anymore.
I've heard of full auto AK's going from anywhere to $50 to $100 in some third world countries.
Russia is getting the better end of this deal.
They're not a problem for us now but after 3-5 years of Chavez economics, when the population and even the army is starving and these get sold to buy bread, there's no telling where they will end up.
did they get Wolf ammo thrown in?
Chavez is giving Russia $50 million but only part of that goes to the guns. Some of that will undoubtedly be kicked back to Hugo for his own personal gain. That's how these "men of the people" operate.
So, why are we still buying Citgo (Cities Service) gasoline???
http://216.239.63.104/search?q=cache:obnkUSOqrS0J:www.citgo.com/AboutCITGO.jsp+citgo+gasoline+is+owned+by+Venezuela+&hl=en
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