The decision announced Monday may be largely symbolic because Chavez has been buying the bulk of his weapons, including attack and transport helicopters, patrol boats and military transport airplanes, from Russia and Spain.
The first batch of 33 Russian helicopters arrived in Venezuela last month, and 33,000 of the 100,000 Russian Kalashnikov assault rifles that Chavez bought are expected this month. Caracas is also finalizing a deal with Spain to purchase eight military patrol boats and 10 military transport planes, and ramping up the training of a 2.5-million-member militia to fight a ``war of resistance'' against any U.S. invaders.
But the U.S. ban underlined Washington's increasingly sour view of Chavez as a ruler who has been undermining democracy in his oil-exporting country, regularly attacking the Bush administration and trying to export his leftist-populist ideology to
No argument here, when Chavez's ex-wife comes out and says he's a fascist dictator in the making that despises the democratic process, it's fair to say the little bastard plans to leech off Petróleos de Venezuela until it's bone dry to bring about a savage system upon the lives of Venezuelans.
Oh right, he's hiring 2.5 million soldiers and 100,000 rifles to stop a US invasion? Please. Why would we invade the place. If anything, he's got his eye on Guyana.