Posted on 09/02/2007 1:51:41 PM PDT by Jeff Head
In a new outburst of antiwestern sabre-rattling, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has threatened Britain with revenge for the Falklands war of 1982. The belligerent Latin American leftist warned last week that his recent build-up of sophisticated Russian and Iranian weapons would be used to destroy the British fleet if it attempted to return to the South Atlantic.
Speaking on his weekly television show Alo Presidente (Hello, Mr President), Chavez denounced what he described as Britains illegal occupation of the Falklands and repeated his call for a regional military alliance against Britain and the United States.
If we had been united in the last war, we could have stopped the old empire, Chavez said, as he gesticulated to maps showing how Venezuelan aircraft and submarines would intercept British warships. Today we could sink the British fleet.
Chavez has often expressed support for Argentinas claim to the Falklands, but his latest broadside was notable for both its antiBritish vitriol and its unprecedented threats. He declared that British history was stained with the blood of South Americas indigenous people and demanded revenge for the cowardly sinking of the General Belgrano, the Argentine cruiser.
Western diplomats have long grown used to harangues from Chavez, who announced this weekend that he would negotiate with guerrillas holding dozens of hostages in Colombia, including three US contractors and Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian abducted as she campaigned for president in 2002. But US and British officials have recently become more concerned by his willingness to lavish billions of dollars from Venezuelas soaring oil income on military capabilities.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
You can read more about the class in general. Here's the official Royal Navy site for the Ark ROyal:
HMS Queen Elizabeth scheduled to enter service in 2014
Defence secretary Des Browne confirmed the £3.8bn order for the two carriers on 25 July 2007.
Go Hugo, Go Hugo, Go Hugo, Go Hugo, Go Hugo..............
A juvenile Ahmadinejad...the sore festers. Pus that does not drain will not heal.
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