Venezuela's bluterous strong man, Hugo Chavez, announced he would seek dozens of the vehicles in response to the 'threat' posed by a pending US-Colombia military deal.
The socialist de facto dictator Hugo Chávez made the laughable statement Wednesday that his country would seek to purchase "several battalions" of Russian tanks in response to a pending US-Colombia deal that would give the U.S. military broader access to bases in Colombia, which Mr. Chávez called part of a U.S. "policy of aggression" against his socialist regime in Venezuela.
Agence France-Presse reports that Chávez hopes to finalize the arms sale and several other trade pacts with Russia on mining, oil, and agriculture in September, when he is set to visit Moscow.
Under the new deal, Venezuela would buy a modern battalion of "30 to 40" Russian-made BMP-3, T-72 and MPR tanks, Chavez said following a telephone conversation with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"Our army will continue to grow," vowed Chavez, who is leading a leftist surge in Latin America and repeatedly lambastes the United States for what he refers to as his perceived "imperialist" policies in the region.
The Agence France-Presse adds that Chávez called the US-Colombia military base plan a "threat" to Venezuela, and criticized U.S. President Barack Obama, saying "The U.S. policy of aggression against Latin America is the same... It's as if no change had occurred from (former president George W.) Bush to Obama. It's all the same."
Chavez obviously is feeling the heat from the changing correlation of forces now that he has awakened to his ALBA interventionist policies to destabilize U.S. allies and democratic regimes in Latin America.
The US-Colombia deal would allow the US to run surveillance from three different air bases in the central Andes for both counter narcotics and counterinsurgency operations. It would not raise the number of US troops and contractors in Colombia beyond the current 1,400 cap. The US currently has a semi-permanent military presence at five Colombian facilities.
Chávez also criticized Colombia's recent accusation that Venezuela had supplied weapons to the Colombian rebel group FARC. The Colombian government announced last week that it had traced antitank weapons that the Colombian military found in a FARC camp back to Venezuela. Chávez "froze" relations with Colombia, calling the charge "blackmail" and "a dirty move," and implied that the weapons may have been stolen during a 1995 FARC attack on a Venezuelan naval post.
In response to the claims, de facto Venezuelan dictator, Hugo Chavez announced that Venezuela would halt the import of 10,000 Colombian cars and bar the Colombian company Ecopetrol from an auction to develop Venezuelan crude oil.
But in a commentary for El Universal, a Venezuelan newspaper, Sadio Garavini Di Turno dismissed Chávez's criticisms as typical posturing, writing that he has "lost count of how many times [Chávez] has 'frozen' Venezuela-Colombia relations." He also slammed Chávez's claim that the US-Colombia base plan is a military threat to Venezuela. The only “threat” to Venezuela and the hemisphere is Hugo Chavez himself.
This is an insult to the intelligence of anybody knowledgeable about foreign affairs. The United States has enough capacity to project its military power from a distance. Therefore, we need no Colombian military bases in the event of any purported invasion of Venezuela. Chavez is simply an 800 hundred pound gorilla with the uncanny ability to make a fool of himself on the world platform.
We all remember the recent hemispheric meeting when the blustering Chavez was admonished and told to “keep quiet” by the king of Spain, it took Chavez more than a week to come up with any kind of response.
Further, anybody must be very ignorant, "gullible" or ideologically "blind" to seriously think that the government of US President Barack Obama, working on and worried about Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and North Korea, among others, is planning an invasion of Venezuela, particularly after the "thawing" during the Inter-American Summit held in Trinidad. Chavez can hope that the useful fools would believe him in order to strengthen his strangle hold on Venezuela.
It’s all to clear that Chavez tries to play a shell game to divert attention away from Venezuela's narco terrorist relationship with the FARC rebels.
Even though the Swedish seller of the weapons confirmed the anti-tank rockets did indeed belong to the Venezuelan army, Chávez scoffed at Colombia's concern and quickly cast all responsibility away from him or his government; instead directing it back to the government and people of Colombia.
This use of "sleight of word," is a tool of choice for the Venezuelan president. Never mind that Chávez' government and army cannot secure highly sophisticated weapons and keep them out of the hands of a terrorist group. It must be Colombia's fault. Just like the people captivated on the street by the fellow with three cups and a ball, Hugo Chávez has captivated and fooled his supporters into believing him.
This demented socialist dictator continues to pour Venezuelan oil revenue down a rat hole, national treasure that could be better used in building infrastructure and a better and more prosperous country.
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