Posted on 01/11/2006 11:32:02 AM PST by FerdieMurphy
CARACAS,VENEZUELA-Venezuela's president told soldiers he will buy jets from Russia or China if the U.S. won't send parts for his country's F-16s.
President Hugo Chávez said Tuesday that Venezuela would consider buying Russian-built MiGs or Chinese warplanes if the United States fails to honor a contract to supply his country with parts for its F-16 jets.
Chávez also accused Washington of blocking Venezuela's acquisition of Super Tucano military planes from Brazil because the jets are built with U.S. technology and suggested he could turn to China or Russia.
''The contract for Brazil to make us some planes, which are for training, could not be signed because of the United States,'' said Chávez, speaking to hundreds of soldiers at a military fort in Caracas.
''We will have to wait to see if Brazil can resolve the problem. If not, well, they produce fighter jets and bombers in China, too,'' he added.
A spokesperson for the Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica S.A., or Embraer, refused to comment on the proposed deal between Venezuela and Brazil.
Chávez said the United States has failed to supply the parts needed to keep Venezuela's F-16s flying, but U.S. officials said replacement parts for U.S.-made warplanes have recently been sent to the South American nation.
''If we have to substitute the fleet of F-16s with a modern fleet of MiGs we will do it, nothing is going to stop us,'' said Chávez, an ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Brian Penn, a U.S. embassy official, denied the United States has failed to send replacement parts. Cartridges for F-16 ejector seats arrived at Caracas' La Guaira international airport on a C-17 cargo plane in November, Penn said in a telephone interview. Penn said he did not have any information about Venezuela's plans to purchase planes from neighboring Brazil.
Venezuela purchased its fleet of 21 F-16s in 1983U.S. officials have said the 1982 contract does not obligate the United States to supply parts indefinitely to Venezuela or to upgrade the planes.
Chávez also urged Venezuela's military to prepare for a possible invasion by the United States.
He said Venezuela would never enter an armed conflict with any of its Latin American neighbors, but could eventually be forced to repel a military invasion by U.S. troops. ''If we are going to war, the only war possible for us would be the one that we are obliged to make against an invasion by North American imperialism,'' he said. U.S. officials have repeatedly said there is no plan to invade Venezuela, but Chávez has called on his countrymen to prepare for a conflict by learning to use a firearm and joining the nation's military reserve. Chávez said he is creating a new socialist system in the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.
Chávez also said he is certain the U.S. is conspiring to try to overthrow Bolivia's leftist President-elect Evo Morales, his close friend and ally.
Nope. Got a big grin on my mug as we "speak". And it would be really hilarious if those cartridges are all "faulty".
Who cares...yawn.
Wooops! They've caught on!
This guy thinks he has a Castro-like tenure ahead of him with some great legacy and that two-bit back-slapping from washed-up nobodies like Bellafonte make those who could help affect having him crushed laugh at his childish grandstanding.
The imagined "millions" of Americans supporting his "great revolution" are maybe a relative handful of pimple-faced snots at mediocre colleges wearing pizza-stained Che' shirts to queer studies courses between shifts at Wendy's.
I will be much more aware of a Citgo pump anywhere I am looking to refill.
101st bump
Do you mean faulty as in:
1) They don't work when they are supposed to?
or
2) They occasionally and randomly work when they are NOT supposed to.
Personally, I prefer #2.
Peru, I think, wanted F-16s from the US. They were too expensive. So they decided to buy MiGs from China. The Chinese sent them over... but they arrived in boxes with assembly instructions. In Chinese. And Russian. They had one hell of a time putting them together.
"someone needs to take out this ankle-biting Chihuahua ass"
I believe he suffers from Kim Jong Illness.
Don't like calling him a loon. If Chavez is a loon, how did he get a country and enough popular support to hold on to it (so far)? How come the commies recently took over another country?
There is something wrong down there. It ain't the leaders, its the people puttin' 'em in charge.
You are correct. Good aircraft are only effective with good pilots. Good pilots are possible only with good training. Remains to be seen how much training the Venezuelan AF gets. At least they should have the fuel for it... Still don't think it will make a difference.
Well as the saying goes; "Lunatics will elect a lunatic."
We almost had that here if Kerry would have been elected, right? VZ just has considerably more loons then we do.
I don't think so. Go buy some more Mig-29s and try not to provoke us into delivering a few hundred JADAMs.
"someone needs to take out this ankle-biting Chihuahua ass"
Here, here. I will drink to that one.
How hard would it be to put a satalite controled ejection seat switch in one of these f-16s? If they fly against us just push the red button at sat comm. AAAAaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!! Seems easy.
Yeah. If we ever went toe-to-toe with ol'citgo boy, his planes would never leave the tarmac. They would be destroyed by the time their pilots made it in their flight suits. And I'm sorry, but an F-16 hasn't got a shot in hell against an F-15 or a Raptor with modern avionics.
So it doesen't really matter if we sell him planes, parts or let him buy russian or chineese crap.
I say! Smashing idea old boy!
It wouldn't be a war. It would be a few explosions and a surrender. It wouldn't just be us versus them, either; from what I understand, Chavez isn't too popular in South America.
Nitpick: The Super Tucano, by Embraer, is a very cool aircraft; But it is not a jet, as you can see by the whirly thing on the front, it is a turbo-prop.
He is dumber than dog crap. Unfortunately people are buying off on it. By people I mean lieberal idiots and commies.
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