In a desperate attempt to get his devaluated party back on its feet Mr. Planas said "President, if you are going to use those submarines to patrol the Guaire river (72 km long, flowing thru Caracas Southeast), if you are going to use those Sukhoi planes to watch the Venezuelan barrios (slums), then buy them." Also he added: "Do not squander that money because we (Venezuelans) do not want war."
With these kind of shameless manipulations, apart from joining the international braindrain campaign orchestrated by the world elites to bow down the Venezuelan people and their democratically-elected leadership, one of the old ruling parties wants to make people believe these self-defense measures to guarantee Venezuela's self-determination and freedom are unnecessary and are diverting funding for social programs.
It's curious these kind of criticism comes from these people, the ones who were in power from 1979 to 1984 under the late Luis Herrera Campins presidency, a government who turned Venezuela into the first Latin American country to buy top nocht F-16 warplanes (built by General Dynamics), the same ones used by NATO in that epoch, and whose pretext for that was to protect Venezuela's borders, specially the Colombian and Guyanese borders, all these within the context of pretended conflicts with those countries.
That purchase cost Venezuelan people US$ 615 M, for 24 "Fighting Falcons" (US$ 24,5 M each plane), just after the "Black Friday", an historical date (Feb. 18, 1983) in which President Luis Herrera established a tight exchange control, in this way initiating the unstoppable deterioration of the Venezuelan economy by devaluating the currency (the Bolivar), cheapening imported goods thus killing local business (specially the small ones), like the agrarian sector, provoking food shortages, hoarding and price speculation (which led the government to create a State-run distribution network known as Corpomercadeo) and many other devastating consequences, worsened by another Christian Democrat oriented President, Rafael Caldera and his Neoliberal "adjustment" program in 1994, and which lasted to 1998, when Chavez came to power by popular decision.
The then new F-16s flying over Lake of Maracaibo in oil-rich state of Zulia.
The real reason to make such a disbursement was to balance and restrain the "Red Triangle of the Caribbean" (as dubbed by Ronald Reagan), formed by Cuba, Nicaragua (both who bought Russian MIGs) and Grenada, violating a State policy established by Jimmy Carter in 1977, that prohibited the selling of such weapons to underdeveloped countries.The previous months to the puchase were predated by an internal political controversy, stoked by jingoist feelings and the interested participation of Peter Bottome and Marcel Granier (owner and President of 1BC Group, respectively), commercial and legal representatives of General Dynamics in Venezuela (1BC are the headquarters of Diario de Caracas newspaper and TV channel Radio Caracas Television who, in a merciless campaing of public pressure, tried to influence in the decision by President Jaime Lusinchi (1984-1989) to buy more F-16s in 1987, something they failed in because Venezuela finally bought French Mirages). Even when the warplanes were officially Venezuelans on Nov. 16, 1983, President Luis Herrera became the nation's joke within 1BC media by means of their sitcoms and editorials because the Venezuelan government prohibited alcohol and tobacco ads in radio and TV in 1981, damaging their "other" and very lucrative interests. The same happened to Jaime Lusinchi because he dared to please the French-friendly intermediaries.
The sofisticated F-16 were a laughing matter too because the US government specified they were not given the missiles system, making their critics to dub them as "The Beautiful Eunuchs". However, it was a relief Venezuela did not have these these tools to defend democracy in Venezuela, the Caribbean and all Latin America when the "Cantaura Massacre" ocurred (Oct. 4, 1982), when a squadron of Broncos and Canberras bombed and riddled with heavy ammunition a rebel group of 40 people from the Bandera Roja guerrillas, most of them teenagers, poorly armed and starving, while they were having a meeting to discuss Venezuela's political situation and its possible solutions, one of the most oustanding military achievements during the 'democratic' period prior to Chavez. Your read well: warplanes to bomb a bunch of teenagers talking politics! And they call Chavez a tyrant, a madman, a butcher! This is no joke, this is the historical truth of today's critics to Chavez, the Bolivarian Revolution and the Venezuelan people.
But for the so-called "opposers" to Chavez that was OK, that was 'chevere', because they were 'comunistas', rebels, they were scum, and that is why they want the US to bomb Venezuela as soon as possible, because they do not have more F-16 not to bomb 40 famished guerrillas but millions of Venezuelans who oppose them.
- If Chavez buys new weapons that is WRONG, is 'chimbo', because today's government uses them to protect the people, not to anihilate them.
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