Eva Golinger
On the eve of the first visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to Venezuela and the completion of agreements to enhance the defense capacity of the Venezuelan government, Washington moves its pieces to recover military domination in the region. Venezuela is preparing to welcome Vladimir Putin, who will implement several agreements.
These will include the delivery of Mi-17 helicopters and the purchase of 92 Russian T-72 tanks and Smerch multiple rocket launchers, the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson “walks the shores of Peru conducting joint exercises with the Peruvian Air Force and Navy.” The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson – the third largest in the Pentagon – is accompanied by an attack fleet consisting of several assault ships, destroyers, air components and anti-submarine helicopters.
Pentagon spokesmen have claimed that Washington carries out these military maneuvers in the region routinely. The U.S. military presence has been increasing alarmingly in the hemisphere since 2006, when Venezuela established defense relations with Russia.
It was then that the U.S. government classified Venezuela as a country “that does not cooperate sufficiently with the fight against terrorism” and imposed a ban on the sale of arms and defense equipment to the country. As a result, the government of Hugo Chavez had to find another partner that was not subject to pressure from Washington. Venezuela, a country then dependent on the Americans, on defense, had two options: allow its military to weaken and the country become unable to defend itself or find other countries not subject to the agenda of Washington who also possess the technological capability to meet its defense needs.
Up until now, Venezuela bought Russian weapons totaling $4 billion, and maintains projects on energy and transfer of technology with the government of Russia to seek closer relations between two mega-producers of oil and gas.
MORE MILITARY BASES IN THE REGION
The Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced a visit to Brazil in April to pursue plans for creating a joint military base in Rio de Janeiro to “monitor drug trafficking in the region.” The base, which may be part of an axis between the United States, Portugal and Brazil, will cover the area of the South Atlantic and to serve multinational cooperation “against drug trafficking and terrorism.”
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