President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela announced Monday that his military has just received a shipment of thousands of Russian-made missiles and rocket-launchers as part of his government's military preparations for a potential armed conflict with neighboring Colombia.

Chavez said during a televised address repeating an allegation he has been making for months, that, "they are preparing for war against us. Preparing is one of the best ways to neutralize it."

According to the Houston Chronicle, "both Colombia and Washington deny any plans to attack Venezuela, but Chavez argues they are ploting a military offensive against Venezuela. Chavez says his government is acquiring more weapons as a precaution.

Chavez said, "thousands of missiles are arriving." The former paratrooper-turned-president would not specify what types of missiles, but claimed Venezuela's growing arsenal includes Russian-made Igla-1S surface-tot-air missiles and rocket-propelled grenades.

As reported by the Chronicle, "Chavez who has been feuding with Colombia for months, claims an agreement between Bogota and Washington allowing the U.S. military to increase its presence at seven Colombian military bases poses a threat to his country. Colombia says the deal is only to help it fight the war on drugs and insurgents inside its territory."

On Monday, Chavez also said that Russian tanks, which includes T-72s, will be imported "to strengthen our armoured divisions."

Since 2005, Venezuela has bought more than $4 billion worth of Russian arms that include 24 Sukhoi fighter jets, dozens of attack helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles. Russia opened a $2.2 billion line of credit in September for Venezuela to purchase more weapons.

To read the entire article from the Houston Chronicle, link here:

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Comments (1)

Comment	smaller | bigger
Name
Write the displayed characters
Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.
	Add Comment