MOSCOW — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was feted here Friday with what are emerging as the trademark tokens of Russian favor: oil and gas deals, the promise of nuclear cooperation and, most significant, a $1 billion loan to buy weapons.
Moscow agreed to lend Venezuela money to buy a wide range of Russian weaponry and hardware, said a source in the Kremlin who spoke on condition of anonymity. Reminiscent of Soviet loans to anti-American Cold War allies, the deal is one of a number gradually binding the two oil-rich, anti-Western governments into tight cooperation.
Russia has gone out of its way to show off its burgeoning friendship with the Latin American leader. Analysts suggest that Moscow prizes Venezuela almost solely for its proximity to, and hostility toward, the United States.
