> Charles Brown wrote:
>
>>CB: Don't kid yourselves. Negroponte and all the rest have been spooking
>>Chavez since he polled high in the first presidential election he won in ?
>>'99 ?
>
> I think they're about to rise to a new level of seriousness.
>
> Doug
Chavez seems to be getting serious to.
Venezuela restocks its arsenal By Andy Webb-Vidal in Miami Published: March 14 2005 00:39
.... Equipment ranging from 50 latest-generation Mig-29 warplanes to dozens of helicopter gunships, 100,000 Kalashnikov automatic rifles and a fleet of naval vessels, have all been reported as imminent deliveries to Venezuela's new arsenal.... http://news.ft.com/cms/s/9849f3cc-9420-11d9-9d6e-00000e2511c8.html
I wonder why Chavez bought the migs? If the Iraq wars are any indication of US strategy those migs wont get off the ground. And I would not put it past the US blowing them up on delivery day.
The 100,000 kalashnikov's are a good move. However, I did not see any RPG's or modern tankbusters on the list.
It is an odd shopping list indeed. It does not seem to indicate a good offensive or defensive mix of hardware.
Travis