Chavez's Arms Build-Up Concerns State Dept.

NewsMax | January 23, 2006

Venezuela is going on a "buying spree" for military equipment that goes beyond the country's legitimate needs, according to the U.S. State Department.

The warning comes on the heels of U.S. efforts to block a proposed sales of military aircraft - including 20 planes costing $200 million - and other equipment to Venezuela by Spain and Brazil.

Such sales are part of what "we would consider an outsized military buildup in Venezuela," according to State Department spokesman Sean McCormack who added that the government of President Hugo Chavez - considered by some to be a younger version of Fidel Castro - plans to activate its reserves and to create a million-person militia.

Speaking in Brasilia, Chavez called absurd the U.S. objections to the Brazil arms deal, and said Brazil will try to persuade the United States to allow it.

The United States has the authority to block the sale because some of the technology used in the planes is American-made. The planes’ manufacturer, Embraer President Mauricio Botelho, said Friday the company is working on changes that could make the sale acceptable to Washington, according to Fox News. Botelho said the plane would be used to combat drugs and arms trafficking and not "for acts of war."

Last week, Chavez blasted a U.S. attempt to block Spain from selling Venezuela 12 military planes with American parts, calling it proof of Washington's "imperialism."

In response, McCormack said the United States is worried that the proposed sale of warplanes "could contribute to destabilization in Latin America."

"The United States has made that view clear to the Spanish, Venezuelan and other governments in Latin America," McCormack said.

The proposed deal with Spain involves armed maritime patrol sea craft and some airplanes.