Posted on 11/11/2005 8:30:32 AM PST by FerdieMurphy
CARACAS - Venezuela will receive the first of 100,000 Russian-made assault rifles starting next month in a deal struck earlier this year.
Russia will deliver 30,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles and three helicopters to Venezuela by year's end, Russian and Venezuelan officials said during talks Thursday.
The first 15,000 rifles will arrive Dec. 15, with an identical shipment to follow on Dec. 30, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov said.
They will be the first weapons under a deal for 100,000 Russian-made Kalashnikov AK-103 and AK-104 rifles signed in May by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's government. The remaining 70,000 rifles will arrive in March, Zhukov said.
President Bush has expressed concern that the guns could fall into the hands of other groups, such as leftist Colombian rebels, and become a destabilizing force in South America.
AN INTERNAL AFFAIR
But Venezuelan officials call that prospect ridiculous and say the rifles will be used to replace outdated FAL rifles used by the Venezuelan military. They have urged the U.S. government not to meddle in Venezuela's internal affairs.
Venezuelan Vice President José Vicente Rangel said the military agreements ''are absolutely normal'' and are a sovereign matter of Venezuela.
Three helicopters bought from Russia will arrive by the end of the year, Rangel said.
Russia agreed to sell Venezuela's military 10 helicopters in March, including Mi-17s, Mi-35s and one Mi-26T, for $120 million. A Venezuelan general announced a deal for five additional Mi-17 helicopters in June for $81 million.
NEW PARTNERSHIP?
Both Rangel and Zhukov said they expect trade to increase dramatically in the coming years between the two nations as they increase cooperation and trade in areas from the oil industry to mining.
Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, and has sought foreign firms' involvement in various oil projects.
Trade between Russia and Venezuela neared $65.5 million in the past 10 months, and in the future could increase fivefold, Rangel said.
The Venezuelan vice president extended a formal invitation for Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit the South American country, saying the two governments have ''excellent relations.'' Chávez visited Moscow last year.
In the oil industry, Venezuela is teaming up with Russian oil firm Lukoil to calculate heavy oil reserves in the east of the country, and state-run Russian energy firm Gazprom recently won two natural gas licenses for zones off Venezuela's western coast.
''We're going to strengthen ties in oil and gas,'' Zhukov said. He also said Russia planned to start assembling buses, tractors, generators and other equipment in Venezuela.
Like Communist Venezuela's army?
Keep buying Chavez' Citgo products!
Yes, Russia should be our natural ally. But it's beginning to look as if they don't want to play ball.
How would they like it if we shipped 30,000 weapons to the Chechnyan terrorists?
Pingage
Pinginski!
Yeah, that too!
How long has it been since one of our hunter/killer subs fired a live torpedo, anyhow?
You keep saying that. Other than they have pale skin, I can't think of why this should be true.
The Ruskie are whores to the world. As long as you have money, you will get what you want from them. This has NEVER changed. And they still have an affection for communist governments....
Too long. Tubes are plugged up with cobwebs. I say blow the delivery vessels out of the water and threaten to ship arms to the (evil) Chechen forces.
"You can't trust the Russians." - Jeanne Kirkpatrick
The Cold War has never been over. The enemy is just someone else. Also some Russian factions are involved.
"The Ruskie are whores to the world. As long as you have money, you will get what you want from them."
Sounds like you are describing our political and business leaders.
Venezuela needs these weapons, after all arent all their neighbors warring on them. Arent they in dire danger of being invaded? Why bother to feed the poor and improve the infrastructure when you can buy guns.
THE COLD WAR IS BACK ON!
Sounds like you are describing our political and business leaders.
----
Yes, I should get a rubber stamp made with that statement on it --- :-)
Say...that ain't a bad idea!
I say it because it would be desirable. The other major power is China, which I think is potentially far more dangerous at this juncture. And Islam, also far more dangerous.
Russia was traditionally a Christian nation, which gives us something in common. Whether they will recover their real Christian roots, or whether the Russian Orthodox Church will continue to be subordinated to the government and closed and unfriendly to the West is a question, of course.
Regretably, I'm beginning to conclude that the possibility of working with Russia to counter the Chinese and Muslim threats isn't going to happen, for some time at least. It would be in both our interests, but Russia's leaders just don't seem to understand what their country's long-term interests are. So it looks as if any real alliance will have to be put in abeyance.
This weapons deal clearly violates the Monroe Doctrine, which I think is far from being an outmoded idea.
Amen.... History always repeats itself too.
I agree, one single torpedo that we would not even need to admit resposibilty for could save thousands of lives in South America. No guts. FARC thanks us for our lack of courage. Columbia will fall.
I think there are too many freepers who see this big bad bogeyman in china and adopt the attitude that china is the enemy and the enemy of the enemy is my friend.
I find this attitude to be o so french. It is france who thinks the US is the superpower as it tries to cobble together an anti US coalition.
From a military standpoint, china will never attack the US and outside of taiwan, has very little interest in expanding its borders. The freeper fear is the china economy may dominate the world in a way the US used to do it.
It is China who will probably be the best US ally and competitor too. This french way of thinking you need to oppose a superpower just because it is there is not productive.
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