VHeadline Venezuela News reports: President Hugo Chavez departed Venezuela Sunday en route to Moscow with a full portfolio of orders for weapons at the beginning of his European tour that will also take him to Spain, Portugal and Belarus. Before leaving he said his intention was to "strengthen a strategic political, economic, technological and military alliance" with Russia. On arrival to Moscow, Monday morning at the beginning of a 2-day visit, Chavez will meet with new Russian leader, Dmitri Medvedev, with whom he has already stated he wants "to forge a relationship of friendship and political trust."This visit to the Russian Federation will also focus on purchases of arms and military technical cooperation and he will take a closer look at plans for a system of tanks that Venezuela may purchase at a later date. Chavez will sign heavy weapons contracts worth $1 billion during the trip according to the Russian Interfax agency. Included in the package, Chavez plans to buy ten to twenty Tor-M1 aircraft systems similar to those bought by Iran in late 2005.
The Russians could also closes a deal for the purchase of three Varshavianka class 636 diesel-electric submarines ... described as third generation and each equipped with four 'lanza' torpedos which would allow the Venezuelan Navy to withdraw two German 209 class submarines that have been in service in Venezuela for the last 30 years or more. Venezuela also plans to buy six non-nuke submarines and several dozen vessels from the Russians in the near future. Meanwhile negotiations are said to be very advanced for two dozen coast guard planes and several Mi-28N helicopter gunships.
The Russian Duma (Parliament) head of defence & security, Victor Ozerov defends the sale of arms and defense equipment to Venezuela (despite protests from the United States) saying that it does NOT alter any strategic regional balance and emphasizes that it is a question of defensive weaponry, NOT offensive and Moscow is giving Venezuela credit terms worth US$800 million to its largest customer of military equipment in Latin America. Venezuela has already bought 24 Sukhoi-30MK2 fighter bombers, 50+ helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov AK-103 rifles.
A Russian-Venezuelan state bank cooperation will finance upcoming bilateral projects and Duma vice-chairman Aleksandr Torshin says Russia is open to further cooperation in agriculture and tourism.
Chavez is also scheduled to meet Russian communist leader, Gennady Zyuganov who says that "Chavez is a brilliant policy-maker, with great authority, not only in Venezuela but throughout Latin America as a consistent fighter against globalization and a defender of the rights of his people."
On Wednesday Chavez will continue to Minsk to meet Belarus president Aleksandr Lukashenko. Venezuela is deepening military cooperation with Belarus to create a new anti-aircraft system while side meetings will take place on energy and diplomatic cooperation following Lukashenko's visits to Caracas over the last couple of years where they have signed agreements on oil exploration and the extraction of heavy crude oil from the Orinoco Belt.
VHeadline Venezuela News
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Venezuela is facing the most difficult period of its history with honest reporters crippled by sectarianism on top of rampant corruption within the administration and beyond, aided and abetted by criminal forces in the US and Spanish governments which cannot accept the sovereignty of the Venezuelan people to decide over their own future.
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