Free Republic

Venezuela’s centrally planned economy may have run out of the essentials like toilet paper, milk and sugar, but a shortage of AK-103 rifles is not something they need worry about now that the government’s new rifle and ammunition factory has come online. The factory, long overdue to have begun production, is a collaboration between the Venezuelan government and Russia’s Izhmash. Izhmash has supplied the tooling and will be paid royalties for each rifle manufactured. The factory is expected to produce 25,000 rifles per year. This works out to be 80 – 90 completed rifles per day. This is on top...

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’ government has struck a deal with Russia to build Latin America’s first factory making Kalashnikov rifles. Venezuela has already taken delivery of 30,000 new Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles from Russia, part of a contract for 100,000 of the weapons favored by guerrillas worldwide, the Financial Times reports. The license to build the weapons factory in Venezuela comes after the U.S. announced a ban on arm sales to Caracas, saying Chavez’s government was failing to cooperate in counterterrorism efforts. Chavez has insisted that the U.S. has plans to invade Venezuela and is seeking to modernize his armed...

Venezuela has received its first delivery of tens of thousands of Russian assault rifles. It is the first batch out of a total of 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered from Moscow.

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Russia will help Venezuela build plants to make Kalashnikov rifles and ammunition after the United States restricted arms sales to the South American nation, President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday. Chavez also told a press conference in Quito, Ecuador, that a delivery of 30,000 Kalashnikov automatic rifles was due to arrive from Russia in early June. "The Russians are going to install a Kalashnikov rifle plant and a munitions factory. So we can defend every street, every hill, every corner," he said in remarks broadcast in Venezuela. Washington banned all weapons sales to Chavez's leftist government...

April 6, 2006: After receiving initial deliveries of Russian AK-103 assault rifles, the Venezuelans quickly discovered that some of the weapons are not new, but older models "remanufactured" to newer standards. As a result, they have suspended the contract (for 100,000 rifles). The Russians have long pulled stunts like this, and have acquired a shady reputation as a result. Even some of their major customers, like India, get hit, and come back with lawsuits and cancellations and renegotiations. Apparently the Russian arms industry can't resist any opportunity to put one over on a customer. These scams often work, but when...