Posted on 03/20/2011 8:48:20 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Chávez’s purchase of $15 billion in weapons causes concern in Latin America
BY ANTONIO MARIA DELGADO
With the acquisition of hundreds of tanks, helicopters and bulletproof vehicles as well as submarines and missile networks, Venezuela is arming itself at a speed unprecedented in the history of the South American country. Experts consulted by El Nuevo Herald have said that Hugo Chávez’s has created unrest in the region with purchases to expand its military that total more than $15 billion.
The analysts warned that the purchases are made in an improvised fashion, following a “dubious” process with no bidding or prior studies, which could lead the country to acquire a Russian technology difficult to adopt and rejected by segments of the National Armed Forces.
The funds Chávez is using for the purchase of these new weapons, the largest in the nation’s history, are in good part coming from loans.
“There have been important acquisitions in the country but never of such magnitude,” said Carlos Julio Peñaloza, former chief of the Unified Command of Venezuela’s Armed Forces.
And it could end up being a lot more than $15 billion.
Some analysts said that the purchases made so far add up to about $30 billion, a figure Chávez himself has said he wishes to spend to modernize the country’s armed forces.
A report by the Association for Citizen Control for the Security and Defense of the Nation, a Venezuelan NGO that follows this issue closely, says the country has received or is about to receive a long list of equipment and military installations supplied mostly by Russia, China and Spain.
The list includes 92 mid-size T-72B1V tanks, about 240 bulletproof infantry vehicles (BMP-3 and 8x8 BTR-80), nine submarines, nearly 50 vessels of different sizes, dozens of Sukhoi Su-30MK2 fighting
(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.com ...
Do Tell!
I am shocked! Shocked that peaceful Ooogo is on a massive arms build up in our backyard.
The submarines are to break the naval blockade when they bring in the ballistic missile parts.
This guy has been plotting for years and years.
Thanks sukhoi-30mki. But let’s attack Libya and leave the Mexican border wide open.
Cool high sign they got going there.
****ers!
Hey! is that Moochelles dress?
In other words, Hugo is being used as a pawn due to his willingness to jump on the grenade.
The part left out was that he has bought very large numbers of a very good new east-block MANPADS that is hard to spoof.
Did we ever get the story on this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyMrCTt6gYE&feature=related
Somebody is watching over this arms build up
Isn’t Obama scheduled to Kiss Hugo this week?
No?
Secret rendezvous?
Gonna have one helluva May Day Parade this year, in Caracas.
Thanks Obie. Another red solidifying his dictatorship due to your incompetence and complicity.
Oh, he is down there working back channels “in person”
Read everything you can find this week regarding the trip.
I am no analyst, but this guy is up to no good.
What where the brazilian protests about?
No one knows. cbn reporter was shot
http://www.forbes.com/profile/barack-obama
Hugo will become the South American Saddam Hussein.
What Venezuela needs is a “Pinochet.”
The guy just cut the value of his currency in half, and the standard of living is plummeting.
But he got toys that go zoom and boom.
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