Monday, February 26, 2007

Venezuela becomes L. America’s largest arms purchaser, says NYT journalist

Venezuela has become the largest buyer of weapons in Latin America and has spent on arms more than Pakistan and Iran, according to Simon Romero from the New York Times. In an article published yesterday, Romero wrote that:

“(The) retooling of Venezuela's military strategy, which includes creating a large civilian reserve force and military assistance to regional allies including Bolivia, has been part of a steadily deteriorating political relationship with the United States.

Pro-Chavez analysts also say the president is less adventurous in relation to military policy outside Venezuela than predecessors like Luis Herrera Campíns, who supported Argentina in the Falklands War in 1982 to detract attention from a decline in oil revenues and climbing inflation.

But critics of the arms purchases say they are being made with little participation from or discussion with the National Assembly, which recently allowed him to govern by decree for 18 months”.

One of the main sellers of arms to the Americas is Russia; Romero’s article cites recent Venezuelan acquisitions dozens of fighter jets and approximately 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles. Increasing Russian influence in Latin America has largely flown under the media’s radar, though one analyst noted that “Russia is certainly making a strong comeback in Latin America, with Venezuela as one of it’s lynch pins”.


Links- Barre Montpelier Times Argus, The Latin Americanist, Council on Hemispheric Affairs

Image- socialismandliberation.org (Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez during a military event)


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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

To me, this is the most interesting part of the article:

" Supporters of the arms buildup contend that under Mr. Chávez, who has been in power for eight years, Venezuela has spent proportionately less on its military in relation to the size of its economy than the United States or than other South American countries like Chile and Colombia.

In 2004, the last year for which comparative data were immediately available and before Venezuela’s arms buildup intensified, overall defense spending by Venezuela, including arms contracts, was about $1.3 billion and accounted for about 1.4 percent of gross domestic product, compared with 4 percent in the United States and 3.8 percent in Colombia, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks military spending."

Full NYT article available here.

The title of the spin-off article that you linked to and your title are actually both incorrect, given that several Latin American countries still spend more (both total and as percentage of GDP) on arms than does Venezuela. The original NYT article title is correct, even though misleading ("Venezuela Spending on Arms Soars to World’s Top Ranks"). What constitutes "Top Ranks" is of course the misleading part, considering 5 or 6 Latin American nations spend more...

6:24 PM
Anonymous said...

Absolutely, Carlos. Spot on analysis. This was a point I tried to make on my blog: http://www.borev.net/2007/02/everybody_panic_
venezuela_has.html">

A couple of other extenuating circumstances:

1) Venezuela had big capitol arms purchases last year because they’ve been embroiled in a battle with the U.S. over an arms sanctions. They hadn’t been able to buy military technology for the last few years because of a bogus arms embargo, so they finally arranged the purchases in 06, which sort of artificially boosted their one-year purchases

2) The whole embargo was initiated in the first place because of the U.S. determination that Venezuela “failed to protect its border” with Colombia, hampering the drug war and enabling human trafficking across its border. So now that they try to do something about it, they initiate a different campaign from the Bush administration.

3) Romero is disingenuous when he compares Venezuela’s military spending to Pakistan and Iran. These are totally different countries. As you point out, the legitimate comparison is with Venezuela’s own neighbors.

This is a big deal. I hear that CNN did a big story on the trumped up “arms war” between the U.S. and Venezuela tonight. This is becoming a major international issue, and its based on this poorly reported NYT story. Shades of Judith Miller…

9:51 PM
Anonymous said...

Romero's criteria to what constitutes the "largest" can be held up to suspicion for the reasons you both mention. To his credit he presents the perspectives of both pro and anti-Chavistas, which I directly quoted in the blog post.

The aspect of the article that really caught my eye was that the recent Venezuelan arms purchases were from Russia. It's very interesting to note how Russia is helping militarize Latin America regardless of what ideology the leader is. Perhaps this relationship is what commentators ought to examine more than China's expansion into Latin America.

10:11 PM

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