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Headlines : GovernmentChavez ponders arms deals ahead of trip to Russia, Belarus and Iran
Air defense systems, surface-to-air missiles, long range radar and possibly even submarines are on Hugo Chavez’s laundry list of needs to protect Venezuela from threatening gestures which have come from the United States.
‘“We don’t want to shoot missiles at anybody, (it’s) just a defense system. But if somebody comes here, well then, ssssssshhh,” he said, imitating the sound of a missile in the air.’
[Posted By antiguanoctane]Republished from International Herald Tribune
President Hugo Chavez said Friday he is considering arms purchases, including submarines and a missile-equipped air defense system, as he prepares for a tour of Russia, Belarus and Iran.
Chavez predicted his trip to Moscow, Minsk and Tehran starting Wednesday is sure to bother his critics in the U.S. government, which considers Chavez a destabilizing element in the region and has voiced strong concern about efforts to modernize Venezuela’s military.
A top military adviser to Chavez said last week that Venezuela was mulling the purchase of Russian submarines, but Defense Minister Gen. Raul Baduel later denied that.
Posted by antiguanoctane
hunter & gatherer of real news from real sources.
The question isn’t whether Chavez is paranoid. The question is: is he paranoid enough?
Given the rubbing out of so many leaders from his neck of the woods in the past couple decades, his best defence may be to keep blabbing his mouth about the USA.
I’m sure the jackals area waiting for him to slip under the radar, so they can take him out. It must be driving the Bush admin nuts that he continues to globetrot unhindered (or that he continues to breathe, for that matter.)
This is the quote I honed in on, from El Universal (Venezuela), was :
““Now, they are making noise because Venezuela is supposedly buying submarines… Why not? We have half million square kilometers of shore, on the north we border with Puerto Rico, i.e. with the empire. Why is it so weird that Venezuela purchases some submarines? I do not know whether we are going to buy them or not, but if we do, do not get alarmed. They (Russian reports) claim the submarines will be equipped with weapons… Of course they will be equipped with weapons! What would you expect? Would you expect us to use the submarines for a promenade under the sea?”
Is he paranoid enough? I think so, though I agree that its not only the military component which matters, its also the media coverage and goodwill from dozens of worldwide governments and civil society groups.
Even so, the domestic Venezuelan and international opposition to Chavez shouldn’t be allowed to point at these defensive arms purchases as any sort of indication of a bellicose attitude or desire. For one thing, I was surprised to read recently on the Oilwars blog (scroll down) that Chavez’ military is not much higher if at all, than the previous neoliberal administrations.
there we go again. one bellicose asshole going after another. its sad. submarines are not defensive weapons, but who can guess on this media play?
What a prime example of the loss of our international credibility and influence.
chavez is smart, so clearly he’s talking about akuela-class submarines. they are the only non-nato submarines with a real change to sneak close enough to a nimitz-class carrier to sink or damage it. but the russians are unlikely to sell these subs, since the are the best they have.
@variusmadiagiant: in this context the subs are defensive weapons, unless he wants to buy lots of them, which he can’t afford. he only needs like 2-4 subs to make the us-navy lots of trouble, not enough to do serious attack operations.
I’m going with antiguanoctane on this one. I don’t whole-heartedly support Chavez but this guy is having to deal with very aggressive gestures by the worlds largest superpower.
They’re all defensive weapons anyhow.
Chavez is obviously not aiming at building a “blue water” fleet. The subs would probably be diesel-electric latest generation subs for costal defense.
Hugo Chavez recommends reading Thierry Meyssan’s investigations
The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, has denounced in length the CIA-organized “velvet coups” attempts around the world, including against his own government, using techniques revealed by Thierry Meyssan.
It must be driving the Bush admin nuts that he continues to globetrot unhindered (or that he continues to breathe, for that matter.)
Not really. There is concern out there that a naive Presidente of an oil rich Latin American country not be hoodwinked into spending his way through his poor country’s oil wealth because of some ego thing exploited by Russian arms merchants. However, this is not the US’s problem, just a concern.