Moscow – Flush with oil profits and snubbed by the United States, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Russia on Tuesday ready to buy 60 warplanes and helicopters for more than a billion dollars.
Chavez arrived in the southern city of Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, which was the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of World War II, to meet with local authorities and take a tour of a tractor factory.
Upon disembarking from his flight from Belarus, the fiery “anti-imperialist” Venezuelan was presented with bread and salt, the traditional symbols of Russian hospitality.
His visit has generated excited coverage in the Russian media, most of it centered on the prospects for a booming business in arms sales to Venezuela, something that draws loud objections from the Bush administration.
Chavez says he has been obliged to turn elsewhere for his nation’s defense needs, given that Washington, a former principal supplier, has failed to provide spare parts for Venezuela’s aging fleet of F-16s.
In addition, the Bush administration in May banned sales of U.S.-made arms to Caracas, saying the leftist administration there was not sufficiently cooperating in the international “war on terror.”
“Brotherhood of Arms: Hugo Chavez brings orders for the Russian military industry,” says the headline in Tuesday’s edition of the Moscow daily Vremya Novostei, while Novie Izvestia noted that “it’s not everyday Russia signs a contract to sell aircraft for more than a billion dollars.”
That was the figure offered by Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov when discussing the expected formalization this week of Venezuela’s acquisition of 30 Su-30 jet fighters and an equal number of military helicopters.
Chavez will head Wednesday to Izhevsk, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) east of Moscow, to see the giant Izhmash industrial complex, which turns out everything from guns to automobiles.
The plant’s most famous product is the Kalashnikov line of assault rifles. Venezuela bought 100,000 of the guns in 2005 and Chavez is seeking a licensing agreement allowing his country to start producing the weapon at home.
The Bush administration, which has tense relations with Chavez’s government, criticized last year’s purchases of Russian armament.
Washington expressed concern that some of the new assault rifles could end up in the hands of Colombia’s already well-armed guerrilla groups.
“I can’t understand why Venezuela needs 100,000 AK-47s. I personally hope it doesn’t happen. I can’t imagine if it did happen it would be good for the hemisphere,” U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said at the time.
Authorities in Izhevsk told EFE that Chavez, dubbed “Comandante Cha,” by one Russian news outlet, might meet with Mikhail Kalashnikov, designer of the rifle that bears his name.
Thursday, the Venezuelan will travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, after which the two leaders are expected to hold a joint press conference.
On the eve of Chavez’s arrival, the Russian Foreign Ministry declared that Venezuela is one of Moscow’s “key partners” in Latin America.
The ministry’s spokesman, Mikhail Kamynin, said the upcoming discussions will focus on boosting trade and economic ties between the two nations, pointing to the “considerable potential” to substantially increase bilateral commerce from last year’s level of $77 million.
Given the role Russia and Venezuela play in the international oil market, as the No. 1 and No. 5 crude exporters, respectively, Kamynin said that energy projects will be the priority in moves toward greater economic cooperation.
The spokesman hailed the two countries’ “quite successful” collaboration on military and technical matters, which he said “adheres strictly” to international law.
Sources at the Venezuelan Embassy in Moscow say Caracas is interested in acquiring passenger airliners and military trainer aircraft from Russia, while Venezuela’s general staff has talked about purchasing Russian artillery and air-defense systems.
