Comrades In Arms

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Russia to build nuclear reactor for Chávez

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev expected to sign a nuclear agreement next week

• Rory Carroll in Caracas
  Luke Harding in Moscow
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday November 18 2008 20.55 GMT
• Article history

Russia's deepening strategic partnership with Venezuela took a dramatic step forward today when it emerged that Moscow has agreed to build Venezuela's first ever nuclear reactor.

President Dmitry Medvedev is expected to sign a nuclear cooperation agreement with his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chávez, during a visit to Latin America next week, part of a determined Russian push into the region.

The reactor is to be named after Humberto Fernandez Moran, a late Venezuelan research scientist and former science minister, Chávez has announced. It is one of many accords he hopes to sign while hosting Medvedev in Caracas next week.

The prospect of a nuclear deal between Moscow and Caracas, following a surge in Russian economic, military, political and intelligence activity in Latin America, is likely to alarm the US and present an early challenge to the Obama administration.

"Hugo Chávez joins the nuclear club," Russian's Vedomosti newspaper trumpeted today. Venezuela's socialist leader said the reactor may be based in the eastern state of Zulia. He stressed that the project would be for peaceful purposes. As if to underline that point, four Japanese survivors from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs visited Venezuela this week at the government's invitation.

The energy ministry, which is scouting locations, said the project was at a very early stage. A report which mooted a nuclear reactor long before Chávez came to power has been dusted off.

Despite abundant oil reserves, Venezuela's energy infrastructure is creaking and prone to blackouts. A nuclear reactor would enable the country to utilise its rich uranium deposits and allay criticism that the government has neglected energy investment.

More importantly for Moscow and Caracas, a nuclear deal will showcase a partnership which advocates creating new "poles" of power to check American hegemony. Nick Day, a Latin American specialist, said the nuclear deal was deliberately timed to pile pressure on the US administration during a moment of transition and weakness.

"Russia is manoeuvring hard in the time between Obama's election and his inauguration. What the Russians are trying to do is to set up a chessboard that gives them greater mobility in negotiations when he [Obama] comes to power," Day said. He added: "Russia's message is: 'We can exert influence in your backyard if you continue to exert influence in our backyard. If you don't take your missiles out of Poland and end Nato expansion we're going to increase our influence in Latin America and do things to provoke you.'"
According to Sergei Novikov, spokesman for Russia's federal nuclear agency, no reactor can be built until both countries have signed a preliminary agreement on nuclear cooperation. This will be signed next week, Novikov told Vedomosti.

Both presidents are also expected to firm up details of a Russian-Venezuelan energy consortium to jointly produce and sell oil and gas. Russian companies which are already exploring oilfields in Venezuela could then extend their reach to fields in Ecuador and Bolivia.

Venezuela has bought $4bn of Russian arms, including Sukhoi fighter jets, making it one of Moscow's best clients. Chávez has spoken of also buying Project 636 diesel submarines, Mi-28 combat helicopters, T72 tanks and air-defence systems.

Despite the spending spree, Venezuela's military has not tipped the regional balance of power. Chávez's armed forces lag behind that of Brazil, Chile and Colombia and analysts question Venezuelan effectiveness.

For Russia's president, however, Caracas is a valuable springboard into Latin America. In addition to Venezuela, Medvedev will visit Peru, Brazil and Cuba — the first trip by a Russian leader to Havana in eight years.

Moscow has spoken of reviving Soviet-era intelligence cooperation with the communist island and in a sign of dramatically improved ties, President Raul Castro last month attended the opening of a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Havana.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008...ssia-venezuela

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Chavez-Russia gambit signals need for U.S. moves
Stephen J. Flanagan and Johanna Mendelson Forman SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES


ANALYSIS/OPINION:
The arrival of a Russian naval squadron and anti-submarine aircraft in the Caribbean for exercises with the Venezuelan navy next week will mark Moscow's first significant military deployments in the Western Hemisphere since the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

However, this exercise presents a political rather than a serious military challenge to the United States.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the Russians see the exercise as a provocative way to challenge U.S. influence in Latin America and what they describe as Washington's "unipolar vision."

It also allows Mr. Chavez to push his accusations of a growing U.S. threat to the region and his notion that Latin American leaders should look elsewhere for security partners.

The United States can't just continue efforts to isolate Mr. Chavez or dismiss Russia's involvement in his dangerous game, particularly a growing arms trade. Countering these trends will require sustained U.S. engagement in hemispheric affairs and new partnerships with our southern neighbors to address common security concerns.

Mr. Chavez and the Russians seem to recognize that their posturing, which played well opposite the Bush administration, will have less traction against a President Obama, who is committed to a new era of activist diplomacy and more nuanced strategies for dealing with the hemisphere and a resurgent Russia.

The day after the U.S. election, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threatened countermeasures if the U.S. proceeded with construction of missile defenses in Europe. But in a subsequent speech in Washington, he expressed hope that he and Mr. Obama could overcome accumulated problems in bilateral relations.

Mr. Chavez set aside inflammatory rhetoric, at least for a day, and welcomed "a respectful discussion" with the new U.S. president.
The Russians are leveraging their relationship with Mr. Chavez for a larger geopolitical gambit. Moscow wants to put Washington on notice that if the U.S. continues to support neighbors of Russia such as Georgia, which Russia claims as part of an exclusive sphere of influence, it is prepared to intrude in the U.S. backyard.

The fact that the Russian squadron could deploy far from its Barents Sea base is remarkable given the poor state of the Russian navy, illustrated by yet another submarine disaster this month.

While Mr. Medvedev is committed to military modernization, Russia spends about one-tenth what the U.S. does on defense. It will be years before Russia can sustain even such modest long-distance operations.

Russia also has found a client for its arms who can readily pay cash. Since 2005, Mr. Chavez has placed orders for more than $4 billion worth of weapons, including 24 SU-30 multirole combat aircraft, dozens of attack helicopters and 100,000 assault rifles and ammunition.

A Russian firm plans to build two factories by 2010 for licensed production of AK-103 assault rifles and ammunition in Venezuela. The Kremlin recently extended Mr. Chavez an additional $1 billion credit that he may use to acquire anti-aircraft systems, transport aircraft, diesel-powered submarines and armored personnel carriers.

This expanded arsenal could trigger a needless arms race and be used by Mr. Chavez to sow further instability in the region. While Venezuela had long planned to replace 60,000 of its aging FAL rifles, there is concern that many of these older rifles, as well as some of the AK-103s and ammunition, could find their way to FARC insurgents fighting the Colombian government.

To ensure that Latin America remains a zone of relative peace, the Obama administration should work with our neighbors to promote norms that allow countries to procure weapons for legitimate self-defense but not for regional destabilization.

It also could push for ammunition markings to simplify monitoring of smuggling, and for Senate ratification of the 1997 Inter-American Convention Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials, which most countries in the hemisphere - including Venezuela - already have ratified.

Episodic U.S. engagement in the Western Hemisphere has helped Mr. Chavez's populist demagoguery gain traction at home and in Bolivia and Nicaragua, and the Bush administration's efforts to denounce him actually have strengthened his hand.

But Washington's distraction elsewhere also has encouraged countries in the region to become more self-sufficient in addressing their security needs. Leaders in Brazil, Argentina and Chile have chosen to cooperate on defense and security issues. South American military units are major contributors to the U.N. peace operation in Haiti.

The newly formed South American Cooperation Council (UNASUR) was called upon to defuse a potentially violent situation in Bolivia. Moreover, the conflict prevention mechanisms of the Organization of American States were used when Colombian aircraft strayed into Ecuadorian airspace in pursuit of narco-terrorists.

A recent poll by Latinobarometro - an annual public opinion survey conducted in 18 countries in Latin America - reflected not only the loss of U.S. influence in the hemisphere, but also a strong desire for a more collegial relationship with Washington.

This is an important opening that the Obama administration seems poised to seize.

Our regional security policy should embrace a renewed commitment to multilateral approaches to addressing mutual security concerns, including the fight against terrorism, organized crime, gang violence and narco-traffickers.

A more sustained U.S. engagement in political and security cooperation with countries in the region will reinforce our good intentions, strengthen the resolve of partners to do more, and provide an effective antidote to both Mr. Chavez's demagoguery and Russia's destabilizing meddling in hemispheric affairs.

• Stephen J. Flanagan is director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Affairs. Johanna Mendelson Forman is a senior associate of CSIS' Americas Program.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...-for-us-moves/

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Cuban president to visit Venezuela



CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Raul Castro's first official trip abroad since assuming Cuba's presidency will be to Venezuela.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he received a letter from Castro two days ago and will announce the date of the Cuban leader's visit soon.
Chavez said Tuesday that the visit could take place within days, adding that he was pleased Castro had chosen Venezuela over Brazil, China, Russia and other countries as his first destination abroad.

Chavez has long been a close ally of former Cuban president Fidel Castro. Fidel was 82 when he stepped down from the presidency in February in favor of his younger brother.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2...a_N.htm?csp=34

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Chavez says Russian warships arriving soon

Sun Nov 23, 6:36 pm ET

CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that Russian warships will soon reach his country's Caribbean coast for joint naval exercises.

Chavez said the Russian ships "will enter Venezuelan waters within a matter of hours." He didn't say exactly when the ships are to arrive.

It's the first such deployment by the Russian navy in the Caribbean since the Cold War. Russia is sending the nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great, the destroyer Admiral Chabanenko, and logistical vessels including a tugboat and a supply ship.

The Russian navy said the two warships will visit the Venezuelan port of La Guaira starting Tuesday, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. It said the ships are scheduled to hold joint exercises with Venezuela's navy starting Dec. 1.

Chavez is also expecting a visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev starting Wednesday as part of a Latin American tour.

Chavez has been boosting ties with Russia while tensions with the U.S. have grown, and he has bought more than $4 billion in Russian weapons.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081123/...zuela_russia_2

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In Sea Exercises, A Sign for Obama

Chávez to Remain a Challenge for U.S.
By Juan Forero
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, November 26, 2008; A06

Vladimir Sergeevich, commander of Russia's fleet, left, shakes
hands with his Venezuelan counterpart, Zahin Quintana, during
a meeting in Caracas. (By Ariana Cubillos -- Associated Press)

CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov. 25 -- The arrival of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and a naval squadron in Venezuela this week is an unequivocal message to President-elect Barack Obama that his most nettlesome challenge in the Americas will be Venezuela's populist government and its oil-fueled crusade against U.S. influence, political analysts say.

President Hugo Chávez, who once called President Bush "the devil," has held out his hand to Obama and expressed a willingness to reengage Washington after expelling the U.S. ambassador in September. Chávez also describes his scheduled meeting with Medvedev on Wednesday and the joint naval maneuvers with the Russian flotilla as friendly exchanges that are not designed to provoke the United States.

But despite Chávez's conciliatory words, Obama faces the task of blunting the pretensions of a country intent on building alliances with American adversaries, including Iran and, critics say, Marxist guerrillas in neighboring Colombia. Obama also faces more immediate worries, including two wars, looming questions about Iran's nuclear ambitions and a resurgent Russia.

Venezuela poses no strategic risk. Chávez, though, has worked energetically this decade to fill the vacuum created by declining U.S. influence in Latin America, a product of Bush administration policies that were unpopular here. In the process, Chávez has become perhaps the world's most vocal anti-American leader and structured an alliance with figures unfriendly to Washington in countries as divergent as Nicaragua and Belarus.

"Obama's dealing with a country that in the past eight or nine years has been taking a very strongly anti-U.S. position that puts the United States in a central negative role," said Peter DeShazo, a former U.S. diplomat who oversees the Latin American program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "Chávez's whole revolution is based on supplanting the influence of the U.S. in the region."

Under a narrative that has become a cornerstone of foreign policy here, the United States is determined to kill Chávez, seize Venezuela's vast oil reserves and ensure that Venezuelans remain subservient to "the empire."

Like his close ally in Cuba, Fidel Castro, Chávez represents those subjugated by the United States. His role is to form a union with like-minded nations to thwart a U.S.-dominated "uni-polar" world.

Venezuela has entered into economic agreements with President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, who has been called Europe's last dictator, and signed contracts worth $4.4 billion to buy assault rifles, military helicopters and combat aircraft from Russia. Venezuela has built a tight alliance with Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, who is sharply at odds with the United States, and has subsidized oil sales to Cuba.

"It should not surprise anyone in the United States," Bernardo Álvarez, Venezuela's ambassador to Washington until September, said in a recent interview. "From the moment Chávez was elected, he planted the system of multi-polarity, and not uni-polarity."

In September, Chávez said that Venezuela had become a strategic ally of Russia and that the military exercises represented "a message to the empire: Venezuela is no longer poor and alone, exploited and humiliated."

As Russian sailors, decked out in black-and-white uniforms, arrived Tuesday at the port of La Guaira, the Venezuelans made a point of providing a memorable welcome to Russia in its first big military deployment to Latin America since the Cold War. A 21-gun salute greeted the sailors as they lined the bow of the destroyer Admiral Chabanenko. The pride of Russia's navy, the nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great, was anchored offshore.

Yet the Venezuelan government's rhetoric was far more subdued than it was in September when the deployment was announced and Chávez declared: "Go ahead and squeal, Yankees." Venezuela has faced hard economic and political realities since Chávez's meeting with Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Russia that month.

The worldwide economic crisis has left Venezuelan crude at $40 a barrel, diminishing Chávez's ability to project himself on the world stage. And Sunday, Venezuela's once-hapless opposition won some of the most important cities and states in nationwide elections, dampening Chávez's efforts to change the constitution to permit his indefinite reelection.

Michael Shifter, a senior policy analyst with Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, said it might also become harder for Chávez to cast the United States as the villain with a young, liberal black man in the White House.

Still, Shifter said, the Obama administration will probably have many of the same interests the Bush administration has had in Latin America.

"Bush lent himself to that narrative," Shifter said. "He was the perfect foil.

My guess is Chávez is going to try to put Obama in that spot, but it will take some work."

The assistant U.S. secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, Thomas Shannon, said Chávez is probably trying to adjust to the new realities in Washington. Shannon noted that Chávez has made conciliatory comments.

"So rhetorically, he's actually created all kinds of options for himself,"

Shannon said. "And he's obviously exploring some options now with this new administration."

The Venezuelan government, through its embassy in Washington, called Obama's election "historic" and said it paralleled the arrival of several left-leaning leaders in South America this decade. "We are convinced the time has come to establish new relations between our countries and in our region, based on respect for sovereignty, equality and true cooperation,"
the embassy said.

The Venezuelans frequently bring up the question of sovereignty when they express fury at U.S. funding of various civil society groups in Caracas, many of which are opposed to Chávez. Details about that assistance, contained in documents made public in Washington in 2002 after a failed coup against Chávez, have been wielded here as proof the United States helped hatch the plot.

But the Venezuelans also complain that their sovereignty is being violated when U.S. officials raise concerns about issues important to the United States, such as the trafficking of cocaine across Venezuela or the threats made by Chávez against the media and opposition figures.

Political analysts and diplomats say the Obama administration is unlikely to remain quiet about these and other concerns, though the approach might be different from that taken by the Bush administration. If Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes secretary of state, the U.S. approach to Venezuela could be tough, especially on issues such as Iran and the fight against terrorism. Clinton, like Obama, is a strong supporter of Israel; her husband is a staunch supporter of Colombia's leadership in its war against drugs and rebels.

Shannon, the assistant secretary of state, said that for now he foresees the Obama administration following through on the Bush administration strategy of building ties with big, friendly countries in the region, such as Brazil and Mexico.

"It will be up to the new administration, I think, to define how it wants to engage with Mr. Chávez and the Venezuelan government," Shannon said. "So at this point in time, number one, I wouldn't hope for too much. But number two, we've got a lot going on in the region, and he's going to have to get in line."
View all comments that have been posted about this article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...112502552.html

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Russia & Venezuela Play Boom Boom Games: Obama Forms More Stupid “Teams”

November 26, 2008 Dmitry Medvedev, Putin’s bag man, went down to Venezuela to play boom boom games with Latin turd Chavez. First time since the Cold War…
Go

[Ryan Ruck]

Russia To Continue Military Coop With Venezuela-Medvedev

ussia will continue military cooperation with Venezuela in order to preserve stability in the Caribbean, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

"We are grateful for the friendly attitude to the Russian Fleet and the Russian Armed Forces," Medvedev told Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez during a visit to the Russian naval ship The Admiral Chabanenko. "The Russian-Venezuelan naval exercise is a measure that enhances stability in the region and the world over."

Medvedev thanked Chavez for the invitation to pay a visit to Venezuela and for his friendly attitude to the Russian armed forces and the Navy in particular. Our cooperation is developing and this is very useful," Medvedev told the ship's crew. "We are prepared to interact along all lines."

In Medvedev's opinion this sort of measures (Russian-Venezuelan exercise) give the region and the whole world greater stability.

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		Russia
		Military expert denies Russia selling new missiles to Venezuela
		19:44 | 20/ 04/ 2009

MOSCOW, April 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has not supplied new shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile systems to Venezuela, a Russian defense industry expert said on Monday.

The Associated Press quoted President Hugo Chavez as saying Sunday that Venezuela had acquired Russian-made surface-to-air missiles and announced the creation of an elite military unit trained to use the new weapons.

Chavez did not say how many missiles had been purchased or how much they cost but reportedly said the missiles were for self-defense.
Anatoly Aksenov, a senior adviser to the general director of Russian arms export monopoly Rosoboronexport, said the AP report apparently referred to Strela (Grail) SAM systems, and denied that any such systems had been supplied.

He said, however, that less advanced Russian-made Igla SAM systems had long been in service with the Venezuela military.

"They were supplied to the Venezuelan side a long time ago and have been shown [at a military parade in Venezuela]," he said.

In the past few years Venezuela has bought more than $4 billion worth of arms and military equipment from Russia.

The Strela (Grail) is a man-portable, shoulder-fired, low-altitude surface-to-air missile system with an effective range of approximately 6,000 meters.

The Igla (Grouse) system is a simplified version with a range of about 3,500 meters.

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Venezuelan Leader Praises Putin’s Tough U.S. Policy


By REUTERS
Published: September 9, 2009

MOSCOW (Reuters) — President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela praised Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Wednesday for standing up to the United States, as Mr. Chávez began a visit to Moscow that the Kremlin said would concentrate on energy and military agreements.

Denis Sinyakov/Reuters
President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela addressed Russian students in Moscow on Wednesday.

Cooperation between Russia, one of the world’s top oil exporters, and Venezuela, a member of OPEC, has been dismissed by the United States as mostly talk, but the relationship is being watched with concern by Colombia, which has stormy ties with Venezuela, its neighbor.

Mr. Chávez began his visit with a two-and-a-half-hour speech to Moscow students in which he berated the United States for seeking to control the world with what he called a “terrorist” empire.

“The United States wants to dominate the entire world,” he told about 1,000 students. “The empire of the Yanks will fall this century, and I am not talking about the end of the century but in the next decades.”

“That is why it is so important that Russia is getting up from its knees — this is the great inheritance from Putin,” he said in the speech, in which he celebrated Lenin and Fidel Castro.

Mr. Chávez was greeted warmly by students at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, although scores of listeners left early to watch a World Cup soccer qualifying match between Russia and Wales.

Russia, which under Mr. Putin’s presidency from 2000 to 2008 frequently clashed with the United States, has previously sought to distance itself from Mr. Chávez’s fiery anti-American rhetoric.

Kremlin officials said that Mr. Chávez’s meetings with President Dmitri A. Medvedev and Mr. Putin would focus on expanding military and energy cooperation.
“About 10 agreements which embrace the fuel and energy sector, military technical cooperation and finance have been prepared,” said Sergei Prikhodko, a foreign policy aide in the Kremlin.

Mr. Chávez, a former soldier who led an unsuccessful coup in the 1990s before later winning an election, has purchased more than $4 billion worth of Russian arms to resupply the Venezuelan Army, including jet fighters and thousands of Kalashnikov assault rifles.

The Kremlin said that no major arms deals were expected during the visit but that Russia could lend Venezuela money to buy its military equipment. Mr. Chávez has said that he wants to buy dozens of Russian tanks to counter a planned increase in military cooperation between the United States and Colombia.

Venezuela and Colombia came close to war last year, and President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia has accused Mr. Chávez of supporting Marxist rebels who are fighting the Colombian government.

The Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA, and a consortium of Russian companies were expected to agree to a joint venture to develop a site.
“An agreement between the Russian oil consortium and PDVSA will be signed in the near future,” Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin told reporters in Moscow. “The creation of a joint venture is yet to be approved by Venezuela’s Parliament.”

The Russian consortium includes Rosneft, Gazprom, Lukoil, TNK-BP and Surgutneftegaz.

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Medvedev says Venezuela key partner of Russia

2009-09-10 23:59:11

MOSCOW, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela is becoming an important partner of Russia and Moscow highly values its cooperation with the Latin American country, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said here on Thursday.

Medvedev said during talks with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez that the development of relations between Russia and Latin American countries had become crucial and Venezuela was a key partner in this respect.

Chavez, who is on a two-day visit to Russia, said the unipolar world "has been destroyed."

"I remember that 10 years ago we were walking here with then President Vladimir Putin, discussing the creation of a multi-polar world. This time has come already, and the multi-polar world does exist," Chavez was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass news agency.

During the meeting at a Russian presidential residence near Moscow, Chavez announced that Venezuela was recognizing Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.

Venezuela is the third country to recognize the independence of the two regions after Russia and Nicaragua.

At a joint press conference after their talks, Medvedev said military cooperation was an integral part of the bilateral ties and he pledged to continue arms supplies to Venezuela and, in the meantime, shoulder due international obligations.

The Russian president also said military-technology cooperation aimed at fighting drug trafficking and organized and transborder crime should not be politicized.

After the meeting, the two countries signed about 10 arms and energy documents without giving details of the military agreement.

Under an energy deal, Venezuela's state oil company, PdVSA, and a consortium of major Russian producers are to establish a joint venture to develop the Junin-6 field in Venezuela's Orinoco heavy crude belt.

Chavez arrived in Moscow on Wednesday after concluding a visit to Belarus. This is his eighth visit to Russia.

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Venezuela to Develop Nuclear Energy With Russian Help

By Daniel Cancel



Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela President Hugo Chavez said the South American country plans to develop a nuclear energy program with Russia and doesn’t want to build an atomic bomb.

Chavez said that the country’s oil and gas reserves won’t last forever and the government will seek alternative energy sources. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed to help Venezuela’s nuclear energy program during a meeting in Moscow last week, Chavez said.

“We’re not going to make an atomic bomb, so don’t bother us like with Iran,” he said on state television. “We’re going to develop nuclear energy with peaceful purposes.”

Chavez is a close ally of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who’s under international sanctions for continuing with the country’s nuclear energy program under suspicions by the U.S. and its allies that Iran is working toward making atomic weapons.

Robert Morgenthau, New York’s District Attorney, said last week that Venezuela may be helping Iran skirt sanctions imposed by the United Nations and the U.S. by transfering funds through the Venezuelan financial system.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Cancel in Caracas at dcancel@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 13, 2009 17:56 EDT

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Venezuela Buys Rockets from Russia

VOA News / Sep. 14, 2009 08:51 KST



ussian President Dmitry Medvedev (right) and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez exchange documents during a signing ceremony at the Barvikha presidential residence, outside Moscow on Sept. 10, 2009.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he has signed an arms deal with Russia for short range missiles.

The missiles have a range of 300 km. The weapons are a part of a series of arms deals with Moscow. Chavez made the announcement on Friday after returning from a ten-day tour of Africa, Asia and Europe and he insists the weapons are for defense only.

Chavez says the rockets will arrive in Venezuela soon and he says his country is not going to attack anybody with them. He says the weapons will help defend his country from any threat no matter where it comes from. Venezuela is currently involved in a dispute with neighboring Colombia over that country's agreement with the U.S. to allow American troops access to seven Colombia bases for anti-drug operations.

Moscow says it is willing to sell Venezuela whatever weapons it is willing to buy. Venezuela is currently negotiating the purchase of 100 T-72 and T-90 tanks from Russia.

Russia has already sold the country 24 fighter jets, dozens of helicopters and assault rifles. This comes after the United States barred the South American country from buying U.S. equipment. In recent years, Venezuela has spent more than US$4 billion on Russian weapons.

In addition to the arms deals, President Chavez recently acknowledged the independence of the Russian-supported breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The U.S. and the European Union consider the areas part of Georgia and have repeatedly asked Russia to respect Georgia's territorial integrity. Nicaragua is the only other country, besides Russia, that recognizes the regions.

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Venezuela bought Russian arms, Chavez says as trip concludes

September 12, 2009 -- Updated 1155 GMT (1955 HKT)

(CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned home Friday after a sometimes controversial nine-country tour and said he had purchased weapons from Russia.



Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez waves a book Friday during a visit to Madrid, Spain.

Chavez appeared on Venezuelan news channel Globovision in Caracas, and he had a message about a purchase he made in Russia.

"By the way, we signed some military agreements with Russia. Well ... soon will arrive some little rockets," Chavez said. "We are not going to attack anyone. ... Those are only defense instruments because we are going to defend the nation, from any threat, from wherever it comes."
Chavez said the rockets could fly as far as missiles with a range of 185 miles.

Chavez made news on many parts of his recent tour.

In Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, he announced that Venezuela has decided to recognize the independent republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, becoming just the third country, after Russia and Nicaragua, to do so.

Chavez earlier had visited Iran, where he pledged to export 20,000 barrels per day of gasoline to strengthen bilateral ties.

He also visited Syria, where news reports said he told thousands at a soccer stadium that Israel's government was "genocidal."

Chavez's tour also included stops in Libya, Algeria, Spain, Turkmenistan, Belarus and Italy.

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Venezuela's Chavez touts $2.2 billion arms deal with Russia

The announcement comes amid growing tensions between the leftist leader and the conservative government of Colombia, which recently agreed to host US military personnel on its bases.

By Tom A. Peter

posted September 14, 2009 at 9:01 am EST

•A daily summary of global reports on security issues.
After meeting with Russian officials last week, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announced that Russia will lend his country $2.2 billion to update its military arsenal. The money will be used to purchase 92 T-72 tanks and an S-300 anti-aircraft rocket system.

The announcement comes amid growing tensions between Venezuela and neighboring Colombia. The US recently signed an agreement with Colombia to use several of its military bases as part of an effort that Colombia says will help in the drug war and fighting left-wing guerrillas. Mr. Chávez says the American-Colombian partnership threatens the security of his nation and the region as a whole.

Notably, the new anti-aircraft weapons systems will allow Venezuela to create a multilayer defense system, reports the Russian news agency RIA Novosti. In addition to the S-300 rocket systems, the air defense shield will also have Russian-made Buk-M2 and Pechora air defense systems, each capable of operating a different ranges.

Despite tensions with Colombia, Chávez insists that the new weapons are primarily for the purpose of defending his nation against an attack by the US. In particular, he says that this new anti-aircraft defense system will act as a deterrent to stop the US from bombing Venezuela.

Citing his nation's oil and gas reserves, Chávez added that Venezuela must take extreme steps to protect itself, reports the BBC.

"We have the largest petroleum reserves in the world. The empire has its sights on them," he said, using a term which he commonly uses to refer to the US.

"Venezuela has no plans to invade anybody, nor attack anybody. These arms are necessary for our national defense."

A longtime critic of the US, Chávez has accused Washington of planning to attack Venezuela on numerous occasions. Much of the equipment in the Latin American nation's military arsenal was out of date, and the latest agreement with Russia stands to significantly advance Venezuela's military, reports Iran's Press TV.

Russia's Itar Tass news agency reports that in his usual bravado, the Venezuelan president did not make any attempt to obscure the terms of his latest agreement with the Russians in his Sunday presidential newscast, Aló Presidente.

"Thanks to the support of the president and the prime minister of Russia an agreement was signed in order to build up our defense capability," Chávez said in the Sunday TV show.

… "The Venezuelan army is armed with the tanks, which have already served for 30 years and some of them – for 50 years," Chávez said.

Russia has signed more than $4 billion worth of weapons contracts with Venezuela over the last four years. Chávez has long expressed an interest in building up his nation's military with the help of the Russians.

Aside from numerous weapons agreements, the two nations appear to have strong ties. Last November, Venezuelan and Russian forces performed a joint military exercise in the Caribbean, traditionally a US-dominated zone, reports Agence France-Presse.

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Preparing for war with Venezuela

Monday, 14 September 2009 06:32

Gustavo Silva Cano



Throughout the last decade it has become clear that Venezuela under Hugo Chávez is Colombia’s greatest national security threat. The FARC, the remaining paramilitary groups, and drug lords are all second on the list. And this past week, that threat became even more dangerous.

In a trip to Russia, President Chávez closed a deal with the government of that country for the purchase of weaponry and war material worth over US$2 billion. In that typical tone of his, full of ugly plebeianism, the Venezuelan president boasted that he had bought some “little rockets … that do not miss” their targets. Chavez’s new Russian rockets have a range of 300 kilometers, meaning that Colombian cities such as Valledupar, Bucaramanga, Barrancabermeja, Riohacha and Santa Marta could be prone to an attack with those rockets if they are fired from the Venezuelan border.

If that is not worrying enough, think that this is not the first time that Hugo Chavez has gone shopping in Moscow. Between 2005 and 2007, President Chavez spent about 4.4 billion dollars in Russian guns, making him Latin America’s largest weapons buyer. Venezuela today counts with 24 Sukhoi-30 fighter jets, which can be counted amongst the best military aircraft out there. If sent from their bases in Venezuela, those airplanes could be flying over Bogota or any other large Colombian city in about thirty minutes, as Mr. Chávez has reminded us a few times.

The autocrat from Caracas has also received from Russia 53 helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles. This time, Mr. Chávez made sure to include over 90 war tanks in his purchase order. In 2006 alone, Venezuela’s defense spending increased 35 percent, and in 2007 Mr. Chávez’s government spent almost as much money buying new guns than the governments of Iran and Pakistan combined. In the meantime, President Chávez has been having fun by inviting Russian nuclear ships to joint military exercises in Venezuelan waters.

Of course, President Chávez maintains that all those weapons he is acquiring are for defense purposes only. Venezuela, he says, is improving its ability to react to an attack, presumably, from American troops based in Colombian territory. I seriously doubt that the United States wishes to invade Venezuela, let alone do so from the seven military bases it is leasing from Colombia. The Obama administration has not quite figured out how to solve the situation in Afghanistan and the country is tired of military adventures overseas. In the next, say, three to six years I think most people would agree that an attack on Venezuela is very unlikely to occur. The real problem, even if one wanted to believe in President Chávez’s good intentions, is that much of the weaponry Venezuela has bought can serve both defensive and offensive purposes in war. Furthermore, the precedent of the Venezuelan leader’s fiery rhetoric about a conflict with Colombia, and the fact that he has sent tanks to the border in the past, must make the Colombian government and its military very uncomfortable.

Yet, Colombia does not have the weaponry that can match the technology that Venezuela has acquired. The balance of power between the two states has been shifting in favor of the Venezuelans for a while now, and budget constraints prevent the Colombian government from doing much about it. Although the Colombian Armed Forces are considerably larger and better trained, our Air Force would be a weak opponent against the Venezuelan Sukhoi and F-16 jets –even if we use those Kafirs we bought from Israel. Also, it is no secret that Colombia’s military is much better equipped for fighting an internal war than an external one. And the crux of the issue is that even if the Colombian government slowly continues to weaken FARC, the possibility of a war with Venezuela cannot be ruled out. I do not want to sound unnecessarily alarmist or pessimistic, but I dare any sane person to trust Hugo Chavez with a bunch of guns and be fine with it.

Colombia must prepare for any eventuality. As Margaret Thatcher wrote once, we need to hope for the best but prepare for the worst. In an ideal world, the Colombian government should get from the United States a firm, clear compromise that it will come in Colombia’s defense in case of conflict with Venezuela, similarly to what happens with South Korea and Taiwan. But Colombia is neither South Korea, nor Taiwan.

In a hypothetical war against her bellicose, pseudo-communist neighbor, Colombia will have to stand her ground on her own. And that means that the Colombian government must continue upgrading the hardware of its military, and slowly start shifting the focus of its strategy from one of homeland security to one of national defense against other states. Accordingly, it would be appropriate to establish as a convention that annual defense spending never should be lower than 4% of GDP.

While this Cold War with Venezuela lasts, Colombia must remain alert. Remember that President Chávez will stay in office at least until 2013, and that now he has the possibility of endless consecutive reelections. There can be no attempts to appease a dictator in the making, or to give in to any of his bully tactics. Power must be checked with power.

And the defense of the people, being, the most important duty of the Colombian state is something that must take priority over all other considerations.

President Uribe taught Colombians how important it is to defend the homeland from those who want to harm it from within. The time has come for Colombia to strengthen itself against those who wish to attack her from without.

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14/09/2009 | Moscow News №35 2009
The week in review - Chavez on arms shopping spree

Anna Arutunyan



President Hugo Chavez's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as sovereign states caused a stir in Moscow on Thursday, where the Venezuelan president was also on his annual arms shopping spree. President Dmitry Medvedev told Chavez that Russia would provide him with as much weaponry as he needed.

Later that day, Chavez visited his old friend Vladimir Putin, embracing the prime minister in a bear hug on the porch of his home. Kommersant reporter Andrei Kolesnikov wrote that Chavez was so happy to see the former president that he thought he heard a crunch when they embraced. "Beyond any doubt, this step confirms the independent nature of Venezuela's foreign policy," RIA Novosti quoted Putin as saying at the start of their talks.

The Georgian government brushed off the announcement. "We're not particularly worried that Chavez decided to recognise the sovereignty of our autonomous regions," Deputy Prime Minister Temuri Yakobashvili was quoted by Nezavisimaya Gazeta as saying. "[Chavez] is a well-known rogue in international politics."

A military source told RIA Novosti ahead of the talks that the sides would discuss a $500 million contract for up to 100 T-72 and T-90 tanks.
Venezuela has been getting increasingly cosy with Russia since 2005, buying at least $4.4 billion of weapons to sidestep a US embargo and beef up its military as the US plans to open a base in Colombia.

Chichvarkin released on bail
Regarded as one of Russia's most flamboyant businessmen, former Yevroset owner Yevgeny Chichvarkin has been wanted by Russian authorities since June. Now in London, the tycoon was arrested on kidnapping and extortion charges, only to be released, after posting 100,000 euros bail, Kommersant reported.

In January, Russian authorities accused Chichvarkin of involvement in a 2003 kidnapping of Yevroset's shipping agent, and have been trying to get him extradited. The businessman's extradition hearing is scheduled for September 22, the Russian Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti. N

Good week for Chechen dads
Russia's latest celebrity custody battle took a turn when Alla Pugachyova's grandson, Dany, said he wants to live with his dad, Chechen-born businessman Ruslan Baisarov. The tycoon is demanding full custody of the 11-year-old from Pugachyova's daughter, Kristina Orbakaite.

Bad week for Olympic PR
Georgia says it wants to organise a boycott of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games, insisting that the "symbol of peace" shouldn't be held in a country that last year invaded its southerly neighbour. Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi is just 20 kilometres from Abkhazia, which declared independence along with North Ossetia shortly after Russia's war with Georgia.

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Putin Visits Chavez in Russian Bid to Grow in Obama’s Backyard

March 31, 2010, 8:22 PM EDT

More From Businessweek

By Lucian Kim

April 1 (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will pay his first visit to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez tomorrow as Russia seeks to regain lost influence in Latin America through energy and arms deals.

The highlight of the one-day trip to Caracas may be the formation of a joint venture to pump oil from Venezuela’s Orinoco Belt. Putin also plans to meet Bolivia’s Evo Morales, who like Chavez opposes U.S. policy in the region.

Chavez, who visited Russia eight times during his decade in power, has wooed Putin by signing more than $4 billion in arms deals and inviting state energy companies OAO Gazprom and OAO Rosneft to explore for oil. Venezuela was a lone supporter of Russia during the five-day Georgian war in 2008 and hosted joint naval war games later that year.

“Chavez has already signed up for more weapons than he can buy, and Russian energy companies aren’t really interested in exploration and production in Venezuela,” said Pavel Baev, a professor at the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo. “It’s much more a political project.”

The two countries fed off each other’s anti-Americanism as oil prices hit all-time highs in the final year of the Bush administration. Now, under the conditions of the global financial crisis, Putin’s successor President Dmitry Medvedev is seeking a more “sober” foreign policy, Baev said.

Arms Customer

“Chavez isn’t the same as he was one or two years ago, but he still has money,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of Russia in Global Affairs magazine. “Russia is trying to get out of it as much as it can.”

Venezuela turned into Russia’s largest Latin American arms customer after the U.S. suspended weapons sales amid a chill in relations. Chavez has placed orders for Sukhoi jet fighters, Russian-made helicopters and Kalashnikov rifles.

Venezuela also backed Russian encouragement for closer cooperation among producers of natural gas, with Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez calling for exporters of the fuel to follow the same principles as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Igor Sechin, Putin’s deputy for energy, has pushed for the formation of a venture between Petroleos de Venezuela SA and oil producers Rosneft, Gazprom, OAO Lukoil, OAO Surgutneftegaz and TNK-BP. The joint company may spend more than $20 billion pumping oil in the Orinoco Belt, Sechin said after meeting Ramirez in Moscow in February.

“In the present economic situation, Gazprom won’t be ready to invest serious money in Venezuela,” said Lukyanov. “It’s more symbolic, a reminder that Russia is still the biggest player on the hydrocarbon market.”

No Trespassing

Russia shouldn’t be seen as trespassing in America’s backyard because the U.S. itself reduced economic cooperation with Venezuela, said Vladimir Sudarev, deputy director of the Latin America Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“Putin feels he’s repaying a debt by going, since Venezuela opened the gates of Latin America to Russia,” said Sudarev. “Competition with the U.S. is pointless in Latin America, but Russia can look for niches.”

Medvedev is expected to visit Latin America later this month for a summit of the so-called BRIC nations: Brazil, Russia, India and China. He visited Venezuela in 2008 on a Latin American tour that included stops in Peru and Cuba.

--With assistance from Stephen Bierman in Moscow. Editors: Chris Kirkham

To contact the reporter on this story: Lucian Kim in Moscow at lkim3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Kirkham at ckirkham@bloomberg.net