Russia To Finance $2.2B For Venezuelan Arms

bloomberg.com:

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that Russia will finance arms purchases valued at $2.2 billion. This would increase the country's defensive capacity with more tanks, missiles and anti-aerial defense systems.

Read the whole story: bloomberg.com

Comments

[Academic]

Fearmongering again I see. What about the US's multi billion dollar loans and state of the art military hardware to Israel and Saudi Arabia for instance?

Venezuela has to repay this money to Russia; Israel doesn't have to repay the US. And while it's correct to say that Venezuela is not in Russia's backyrad then one can logically use the same argument and say that Israel isn't in the backyard of the USA either. And as sovereign states both Venezuela and Israel are perfectly entitled as "threatened" states to get their arms from whomsoever they want; wouldn't you agree? QED.

Professor Dr. Stanley Collymore.

[Klimb]

Then, we shld also now go ahead and build the missile defense shield in Poland! Putin is rearing his head towards America by using Venezuela which is dangerous for US. These are also signs that Chavez wants to stay in power forever or beginning of dictatorsh­ip...let us wait and see.

[MajorKong]

The S-300 (NATO SA-10) is a defensive system. It's roughly equivalent to our Patriot air defense missile.

It's not something they could attack the United States with.

[ForVivi]

What a tangled web we humans weave!

[yankees]

Good move by Russia in the Political Chess game. Don't forget that Russia also is helping Venezuela with their nuclear "energy" program.

[WorkingClass]

Hugo needs help in view of the build up of imperial U.S. troops in next door Columbia.

[fbr79]

ColOmbia. I did not know we had imperial troops, can't wait to get issued my uniform

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shindotv/945212201/

[wereeverywhere]

Hugo needs help alright. He's more interested in Russian hardware and supporting tyrants like Ahmadinejad than the human rights and free expression in his country. The last time Chavez was attacked in the aborted coup, it was the people themselves that rallied and saved him. That's his first line of defense and these games of realpolitik are counter-re­volutionar­y (Bolivarian or otherwise) and anti- humanist.