| – to buy Russian tanks, armored vehiclesReports in the Venezuelan media suggest that that country is currently gearing to purchase Russian-made T-72 battle tanks and armored reconnaissance vehicles.This, a Venezuelan military commander said, was all part of the nation’s increased military cooperation with Russia, from which the vehicles are to be purchased.General Jesus Gonzalez made the announcement following talks with the Head of Russia’s Federal Security Service,Cheap Jerseys From China, Nikolai Patrushev,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, about arms purchases that could also include military planes, naval vessels and combat helicopters.“We’re in the negotiation process,” Gonzalez said. “We are going to determine the number of tanks, planes, ships and helicopters that we’re going to need.”Russia has signed weapons contracts worth more than $4 billion with President Hugo Chavez since 2005 to supply fighter jets, combat helicopters and 100,NFL Jerseys Outlet,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles. Russia is also helping Venezuela build South America’s first Kalashnikov factory.Chavez, who has been warned that the United States could invade Venezuela to seize control of its immense oil reserves, argues that his country needs the weapons for defensive purposes.Gonzalez told reporters that “nobody should be worried” about Venezuela’s arms purchases, which have raised concerns in Washington. The new arms purchases should be completed by the end of this year, Gonzalez said.Russia is also sending a naval squadron to Venezuela next month for naval exercises in the Caribbean Sea.The deployment is expected to represent the largest Russian naval manoeuvers in the Caribbean since the Cold War.Alliance For Change Leader Raphael Trotman had recently condemned the Government’s response to the call of the People’s National Congress Reform for a position on the arms build-up in Venezuela.The AFC insists that Government’s dismissal of the call is tantamount to being ‘politically infantile.’ He noted that any buildup of arms in the hemisphere such as what is happening in Venezuela should be cause for concern, in that it could have a domino effect, wherein other large countries in the region could start their own buildup.He noted that for the hemisphere to become a militarized zone could be very dangerous for small countries, such as Guyana, with a small armed force and a similarly small economy.According to Trotman, the country’s leadership must voice its concern, and increase its diplomatic presence and voice on the issue at forums such as the Organisation of American States and the United Nations.He said that it was not a question of if Guyana was being threatened, but with the potential arms build-up, countries such as Guyana could find themselves in the midst of a storm when superpowers land in the hemisphere with a vast arsenal.One such example of a super power flexing its muscles in the hemisphere was highlighted by the recent flight of Russian jet bombers in the region.Trotman also noted that it was no coincidence that the US will be hosting a military humanitarian outreach on the northwest shores of Guyana while Russian ships would also be in relatively close proximity.On Thursday last, during a press briefing,Wholesale Jerseys China, the PNCR had emphasized that the Venezuelan Administration had embarked on a policy of a massive arms build-up, in that it has purchased sophisticated weapons from both Russia and China.The party added that the policy had already attracted attention regionally and internationally, yet the Jagdeo Administration had chosen to remain silent.The party had said that it considered such silence and the lack of policy as most dangerous and ill-advised.“The party believes that one cannot simply accept the Venezuelan arguments that the arms are for defensive purposes…On any assessment, the arms build-up seems out of proportion to the needs of the Venezuelan nation.”It noted that the policy of inaction had given rise to an alarming psychological condition of passivity.“Guyanese were alarmed to learn, for example,Alexis Sanchez Chile Jersey, that the President was unaware that Russian planes had utilised Guyana’s airspace on a test flight to Caracas recently… What is of particular concern to the PNCR is that this arms build-up assumes sinister significance in the context of the known controversy between Venezuela and Guyana, and the willingness of Caracas to use force when it considers it in its national interest, as illustrated in November last year when two pontoons were blown up by Venezuelan security forces in the Cuyuni River after an invasion of Guyana’s land and air space….“To date,Wholesale China Jerseys, Venezuelans have failed to provide a satisfactory explanation to the people of Guyana.”The party then issued a call for the local administration, not only to declare its policy on the Venezuelan arms build-up, but also to mount a major challenge to it in the region and beyond.The Office of the President had responded by saying that it considered the call by the PNCR for Government to state its position on Venezuela’s arms stockpiling as irrelevant.The statement issued said that the Office of the President also referred to Guyana’s membership of the South American Community of Nations, of which the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is also a founding member.“For us, the issue of arms build-up by nations in UNASUR ought not to be identified and examined from the perspective of the superpower’s dictate,” the OP statement had said. |
