28 June 2007
Venezuela’s controversial president, Hugo Chávez, has started a six-day tour of Russia, Belarus and Iran during which he plans to discuss the possibility of buying submarines and a missile-equipped air defense system.
Chávez arrived in Moscow on Wednesday for talks with Russia’s president Vladimir Putin. Chávez has expressed interest in the possibility of buying Russian submarines despite likely criticism from US officials, who have voiced concern about Venezuela's recent military spending spree. Venezuela has already purchased some US$ 3 billion worth of arms from Russia, including 53 military helicopters, 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles, 24 SU-30 Sukhoi fighter jets and other weapons.
In Belarus, the Venezuelan leader will discuss a plan to buy an air defense system equipped with radar and antiaircraft missiles. The former paratrooper commander said this week that Venezuela's current short-range system was insufficient.
Chávez then travels to Tehran for talks aimed at further deepening his ties with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is one of Venezuela's closest allies outside Latin America. Chavez dismissed speculation that he would sign an agreement with Iran to develop nuclear weapons.
“We don't need an atomic bomb, because we already have one: it is called the Venezuelan people,'' he said in a televised speech to thousands of supporters at a political rally in Caracas. “That has the force of 100 atomic bombs.''
Read about the WJC's campaign to Stop the Iranian Threat
