MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

President Chavez has a long arms shopping list

Venezuela is buying helicopters, boats and military transport planes in defense deals worth about 2.7 billion US dollars, according to the latest figures compiled by the London based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

Increasingly distanced from President George Bush's administration but flush with oil profits Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is looking to countries like Russia and Spain as suppliers.

A first shipment with 30,000 Russian-made Kalashnikov assault rifles is headed to Venezuela and should total 100,000 guns by year's end. Venezuela's shopping list also includes more submarines (Spain?) and an even bigger deal for Russian fighter jets.

"The United States is failing in its attempt to blockade us, to disarm us," Chavez said after announcing the first shipment of Kalashnikovs.

Venezuela's defense budget is up 31% this year, to 2 billion US dollars and that doesn't include roughly 2.2 billion it plans to spend for 10 transport planes and eight patrol boats on what will be Spain's largest-ever defense deal.

Defense economist Mark Stoker says the deals so far don't appear to be a significant buildup; Venezuela is not spending as much as Brazil and Colombia.

Brazil's defense budget is 13.2 billion US dollars and Colombia's, 6.3 billion including costs or police agencies and US military aid. Other significant defense budgets in the region are: Chile with 3.8 billion US dollars (included additional military funding and national police costs); Mexico, 3.1 billion US dollars and Argentina, 1.7 billion. The US is estimated will spend roughly 500 billion US dollars this year, including the war costs for Iraq and Afghanistan

"My interpretation is that Venezuela had a certain amount of aging military equipment and needed to replace some of that" using its windfall oil profits, said Stoker from IISS.

Venezuela, meanwhile, is spending 54 million US dollars for Kalashnikov AK 103 assault rifles to replace Belgian FALs, which will be turned over to a growing army reserve Chavez says would help battle U.S. troops in the event of an invasion. U.S. officials have ridiculed Chavez's frequent warnings of a possible invasion, but say they worry some of the assault rifles could end up in the hands of leftist Colombian rebels.

The Bush administration, citing Chavez's close ties to Iran and Cuba and accusing Venezuela of being uncooperative in counter-terror efforts, announced this month that it will block new arms sales to the country. The U.S. had been refusing to sell Venezuela upgrades for its U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, and the latest move could make it harder for Venezuela to maintain other U.S.-made planes.

Chavez maintains he no longer needs, or wants US weaponry and is looking to buy Russian Sukhoi Su-30 and Su-35 fighter jets to replace the F-16s. Venezuela also is buying 15 Russian helicopters for 200 million US dollars and officials say they hope to buy 18 more.

The U.S. has tried to kill Venezuela's deal for patrol boats and transport planes by blocking Spain from including U.S.-manufactured parts. But Spain says the deal, involving 48 speedboats with a 263 million US dollars tag, is moving ahead with parts made elsewhere.

The United States supplied most of Venezuela's defense needs before a failed 2002 coup, when Washington recognized civilian leaders who briefly took Chavez's place. Chavez was restored to power by military loyalists and street protests two days later, and accused the U.S. of involvement in the coup.

President Chavez adviser General Alberto Muller says Venezuela spent far more in the 1980s on warplanes, frigates and tanks, all from the United States.