Venezuela Hosts Russian Naval Exercise in Caribbean

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>
Venezuela to host Russia navy
exercise in Caribbean</font size></center>

Reuters
September 6, 2008

CARACAS (Reuters) - Several Russian ships and 1,000 soldiers will take part in joint naval maneuvers with Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea later this year, exercises likely to increase diplomatic tensions with Washington, a pro-government newspaper reported on Saturday.

Quoting Venezuela's naval intelligence director, Salbarore Cammarata, the newspaper Vea said four Russian boats would visit Venezuelan waters from November 10 to 14.

Plans for the naval operations come at a time of heightened diplomatic tension and Cold War-style rhetoric between Moscow and the United States over the recent war in Georgia and plans for a U.S. missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Cammarata said it would be the first time Russia's navy carried out such exercises in Latin America. He said the Venezuelan air force would also take part.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an outspoken critic of Washington, has said in recent weeks that Russian ships and planes are welcome to visit the South American country.

"If the Russian long-distance planes that fly around the world need to land at some Venezuelan landing strip, they are welcome, we have no problems," he said on his weekly television show last week.

Chavez, who buys billions of dollars of weapons from Russia, has criticized this year's reactivation of the U.S. Navy's Fourth Fleet, which will patrol Latin America for the first time in over 50 years.

The socialist Chavez says he fears the United States will invade oil-rich Venezuela and he supports Russia's growing geopolitical presence as a counterbalance to U.S. power.

Chavez has bought fighter jets and submarines from Russia to retool Venezuela's aging weapons and says he is also interested in a missile defense system.

(Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Peter Cooney)

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0633952420080907

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>No link between Russia-Venezuela naval drills
and Georgia - Moscow</font size></center>

Russian Information & News Agency
September 8, 2008

MOSCOW, September 8 (RIA Novosti) - The upcoming joint Russian-Venezuelan naval exercise was agreed on long before the current Georgia crisis and is unrelated to the situation in the Caucasus, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

"It is a pre-planned event that is not in any way connected to the situation in the Caucasus. The agreement [to hold the exercise] was reached a long time before what happened on August 7-8," Andrei Nesterenko said.

Nesterenko said the exercise would not target any "third-party country."

Georgian forces attacked South Ossetia on August 8 in an attempt to take back the breakaway republic, triggering a Russian operation to "force Georgia to peace." The operation was concluded on August 12. On August 26, Russia recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. The majority of the residents of both republics already had Russian citizenship.

In the aftermath of the Russian-Georgian war, NATO ships, including U.S. warships, began to make deliveries of humanitarian aid to Georgia. Russia questioned the nature of the aid, and also said that it would respond to the build up of NATO ships in the Black Sea.

"Our response will be calm, not hysterical, but there will definitely be a response," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on September 2.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday the naval exercise would be held in the Caribbean in late November-early December.

According to earlier media reports, Venezuelan navy officials said four Russian warships and a number of Venezuelan missile frigates, patrol boats, submarines and aircraft are to take part in the joint drills.

Chavez, an outspoken critic of Washington since coming to power nine years ago, has focused his foreign policy on bolstering ties with countries outside the U.S. sphere of influence.

In 2005-2006, Venezuela bought more than 50 combat helicopters, 24 Su-30MK2 fighters, 12 Tor-M1 air defense missile systems and 100,000 AK-103 rifles from Russia. Current arms contracts between Russia and Venezuela are worth about $4 billion, according to various sources.

Future deliveries may include Amur-class diesel submarines, Il-76MD military transport planes, Il-78 aerial tankers and air-defense missile systems.


http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080908/116619249.html

 

[keysersoze]

This ought to bloster Plain to play up her Russian foreign relations credentials.

 

[Non-StopJFK2TAB]

This ought to bloster Plain to play up her Russian foreign relations credentials.

is russia a threat

 

[blackbull1970]

Russia is a bigger threat than what the Bush administration will let you believe.

Peace.

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>
Chavez welcomes 2 Russian bombers</font size><font size="4">
Planes' presence adds to strains in U.S.-Moscow ties</font size></center>


Associated Press
Sept. 10, 2008

CARACAS, VENEZUELA — Two Russian strategic bombers landed in Venezuela on Wednesday as part of military maneuvers, President Hugo Chavez said, welcoming the unprecedented deployment at a time of increasing tensions between Moscow and the U.S.

The Venezuelan leader said the two Russian Tu-160 bombers will conduct maneuvers and that he hopes to "fly one of those things" himself.

Russian military analysts said it was the first time Russian strategic bombers have landed in the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War. The surprise foray into Venezuela was certain to anger Washington and add to the strain in U.S.-Russian relations over Russia's war in Georgia.

Chavez called the deployment part of a move toward a "pluri-polar world" — a reference to moving away from U.S. dominance. "The Yankee hegemony is finished," Chavez said in a televised speech.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the supersonic "Blackjack" bombers will be in Venezuela for training flights over neutral waters in the next few days before returning to Russia.

Ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky refused to say how long the deployment would last or say whether the planes were carrying weapons.

NATO fighters escorted the two Russian bombers on their 13-hour trip to Venezuela over the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, the Defense Ministry said.

The Russian deployment appeared to be a tit-for-tat response to the U.S. move to send warships to deliver aid to U.S.-allied Georgia after its war last month with Russia.

"This is a redux of Cold War games, and a dangerous thing to do," said Moscow-based military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5994716.html

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>
US to watch Russia's 'Cold-War era'
warplanes in Venezuela</font size></center>

A Russian TU-160 long-distance heavy bomber and a
fighter jet flying over the Red Square in Moscow



AFP
September 11, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States said Thursday it will monitor two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers, which it described as "Cold War era assets," following their deployment to Venezuela.

"It is something that we will watch very closely, as we have with the movements of other military assets for the stated purpose of this joint exercise," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

Besides the warplanes, Russia also plans to send warships to Venezuela for joint naval exercises in November.

"I would just note, for example, that our military assets in the region of the Black Sea, for example, are there to deliver humanitarian assistance," McCormack said.

"I will leave it to the Russians and the Venezuelans to describe the purpose of their activities," he added.

The United States sent warships to the Black Sea to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia after Russia launched a military incursion there last month that has inflamed US-Russian tensions.

Asked if he was making a link between events on both continents, McCormack replied: "I am making no linkage whatsoever. I am just pointing out an interesting data point."

McCormack deferred to the Russians when asked if he knew if the Russian bombers were capable of carrying nuclear weapons and whether their presence was troubling or even disturbing.

"These are Cold War era assets and I will leave it to the Russians to describe their capabilities and how they might be equipped," he said.

His remarks fell far short of actually calling the increasingly frosty US-Russian relations a new Cold War.

A spokesman for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said August 27 he saw no threat of a new Cold War between nuclear rivals over the conflict in US-backed Georgia.

A Russian air force spokesman said Thursday that neither of the two Russian strategic bombers that flew to Venezuela on Wednesday are carrying nuclear weapons.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g3uhdlrj_GPzINtrJslUj64f-VKQ

 

[MASTERBAKER]

Russian jets in Venezuela - Chaves Speaks

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Sept 11, 08

 

[Shotta042807]

the way I see it is we're kinda due for a world war any time now, i mean we been bullyin other folks for years and dancing on poor countries mass graves for a minute so I mean, while other folks have been advancing (China, Russia, India) I hope those politicians have some money tucked away and some of those future weapons in production....

 

[QueEx]

the way I see it is we're kinda due for a world war any time now, i mean we been bullyin other folks for years and dancing on poor countries mass graves for a minute so I mean, while other folks have been advancing (China, Russia, India) I hope those politicians have some money tucked away and some of those future weapons in production....

Funny how you stepped over China's dead bodies to point
to ours. You could have pull a muscle or stubbed your toe.

 

[drunkard]

the problem is china's 1 billion warm bodies well eclipses the millions of dead bodies we've created.

the other great difference is that American intervention policies have been spread to africa, latin america, southeast asia, and the middle east. thus, you have generation upon generation of various cultures with deep resentment towards US.

of course china is now playing the same games in Africa, but since we live in the US its our skeletons in the closest which are the most obvious.

 

[QueEx]

<IFRAME SRC="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7628899.stm" WIDTH=780 HEIGHT=1500>
<A HREF="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7628899.stm">link</A>

</IFRAME>

 

[GET YOU HOT]

I don't know if one has to do with the other or vice versa but Venezuela is definetly making it a point to build up its air forces...

Venezuela Doubles Up On Chinese Jets
September 28, 2008: Venezuela has doubled its order for a dozen K-8 trainer aircraft from China. These aircraft cost about $25 million each. China has exported K-8s to several other countries (often at bargain prices), including Myanmar (Burma).

The K8 (also called JL-8) is a 4.3 ton, two seat, jet trainer. It can use an American, Chinese or Ukrainian engine. Originally, China was going to just use a 3600 pound thrust American engines. But after the 1989 Chinese crackdown on pro-democracy forces, the United States cut off the supply of engines. This encouraged China to design a similar engine (the WS-11). But China has had a hard time mastering the precise technologies and manufacturing techniques needed to build jet engines. So it has been buying the Ukrainian AI-25TLK, while it works to perfect its own engine design.

The K8 has a cruising speed of 800 kilometers an hour, endurance of four hours and five hard points. It can carry a 23mm cannon in the hard point under the fuselage, and half a ton of bombs, rockets or missiles, from the four hard points on the wings. This gives the aircraft combat capability, at least against a foe with few anti-aircraft weapons. Electronics on the JL-8 are minimal, as it's basically a two seat trainer, to prepare fighter pilots before they climb into anything from a an F-16 to Su-30s (Venezuela has both).

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>
U.S. shrugs as Russian ships,
president visit Venezuela</font size></center>


McClatchy Newspapers
By Tyler Bridges
November 25, 2008

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela fired a 21-gun artillery salute Tuesday as Russian warships made their first trip to this South American nation since the Cold War ended. Protocol officials, however, will have little time to rest, for Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrives on Wednesday — the first visit by a top Russian leader.

It was a long journey for the destroyer Admiral Chabanenko, which docked at La Guaira port, near Caracas' international airport, and Peter the Great, a nuclear-powered cruiser and one of Russia's biggest vessels, which anchored offshore. Along with two other vessels, they traveled two months from their home port near Murmansk, Russia.

The visits by the warships and Medvedev mark a convergence of interests between two oil-producing nations — both of which want to be taken more seriously by the rest of the world, but especially by the U.S.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been trying to muscle his way onto the world stage and loves to tweak "the Empire," as he calls the U.S.

U.S. officials weren't concerned.

"I don't think a few Russian ships in the Caribbean with the Venezuelans is really going to raise anybody's eyebrows," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack. Still, he added, "We'll watch it closely."

Analysts think that Russian leaders are still smarting from the Pentagon's decision to send American warships into the Black Sea, ostensibly to deliver humanitarian supplies to Georgia in September, only weeks after Russia invaded that country.

"Russia is making a point to the United States," said Anna Gilmour, a military specialist with Jane's Intelligence Review in London. "If the United States wants to project its influence in the Russian sphere, then Russia wants to show that it can counteract that."

However, Alexander Golts, a Moscow-based military analyst for the online Yezhednevny Zhurnal (Daily Journal), said sending the ships to Venezuela "makes no military sense."

"One can hardly imagine any kind of military cooperation between the two navies," he said. "They cannot do anything together."

Russia's navy continues to be organized along Cold War lines, prepared to engage U.S. aircraft carriers, Golts said.

Venezuela's navy consists of 17 ships, according to Gilmour, and spends most of its time patrolling coastal waters to combat drug trafficking.

The joint exercises will begin Dec. 1 in Caribbean waters. "The exercises will involve joint sea rescue, maneuvering and artillery firing drills," said Viktor Zavarzin, the chairman of the Defense Committee in Russia's lower house of parliament, according to the Russian information agency, RIA Novosti.

Gilmour said she thought Russians who learned Spanish to serve in Cuba — and officials who handled recent arms deals — would bridge the language gap between the two navies.

Medvedev is coming to Venezuela after Chavez has made three trips this year to Russia.

Igor Danchenko, a Russian senior research analyst at the Brookings Institution, called the trip a pragmatic effort by Medvedev to meet with Russia's best arms customer in Latin America. Venezuela has purchased $4 billion in Russian weapons since 2005 and would like to buy more, as part of Chavez's ambition to extend his influence.

Only China and India have been bigger buyers than Venezuela lately, said Alexander Pikayev, a military specialist at the Moscow-based Institute for World Economy and International Relations.

Medvedev's visit comes after a flurry of activity between Russia and Cuba that RIA Novosti called a "trend toward a dizzying improvement'' of relations between the two countries.

"Russia has withdrawn from Latin America, but now it is coming back," he said. "But don't expect massive economic aid to Cuba like before. Russia won't make Soviet mistakes."

The Soviet Union propped up the Cuban economy for 30 years with billions of dollars in subsidies until it collapsed 20 years ago and the Cold War ended.

"Cuba has reemerged as a priority," said Daniel Erikson, a senior associate at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue and the author of "The Cuban Wars," published this month. "Russia has begun to extend credit again."

The Russian government recently announced that Russian oil companies could soon begin searching for oil in deep Gulf of Mexico waters off Cuba.

Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin visited Cuba this month, using the 10-hour visit to seal a series of deals, including granting Cuba a $335 million credit line. The two countries reached other agreements in nickel, automotive, military and communications.

Russia has offered to advise Cuba on how to improve its defense capabilities.

Medvedev, who was scheduled to arrive here from Brazil where he signed accords to increase ties in aerospace, nuclear and defense industries, heads to Cuba on Thursday.

He had also attended a summit meeting of 21 Pacific Rim nations in Peru. Afterward, he announced that Russia would send technicians to Peru to train Peruvians how to repair the military's Russian-made helicopters.

Bolivia announced last month that it would purchase five Russian civil defense helicopters as the first step to deepen ties between the two countries.

But with the expected souring of Venezuela's economy with the collapse of oil prices, it isn't clear that Chavez can continue his own spending spree

"At some point, Chavez will have to decide whether he wants to keep buying tanks and Kalashnikovs or decide to build new schools and hospitals," said Alex Sanchez, a research fellow at the Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs who's studied Russia's activities in Latin America. "Chavez will probably be forced to choose the social projects."

(Miami Herald special correspondent Renato Perez contributed to this article.)

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/56488.html

 

[MCP]

As I mentioned in another thread, I believe that the Russians are sending a message to the US.

If the US can build up a defense system on its borders, Russia can also play in your backyard as well.

 

[QueEx]

<font size="5"><center>
Weird ending to Russian president's
first Venezuela visit</font size><font size="4">

Bodyguards for the two men scuffled suggesting
the difficulties in establishing deep ties between two
nations with sharply different cultures and languages</font siz></center>

McClatchy Newspapers
By Tyler Bridges
Thursday, November 27, 2008


LA GUAIRA, Venezuela _ A strange thing happened Thursday moments after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez boarded a Russian destroyer docked here.

Bodyguards for the two men scuffled at the head of the gangplank.

It lasted less than a minute, and it didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of the two leaders during the first trip ever by a Russian president to Venezuela.

But the tussle suggested the difficulties in establishing deep ties between two nations with a shared interest in showing the United States that they can’t be pushed around _ but with sharply different cultures and languages.

With four warships making Russia's first post-Cold War visit to Venezuela for joint maneuvers aimed at deepening relations, analysts have questioned the compatibility of the two navies.

Russia’s fleet is organized along Cold War lines to engage the United States.

Venezuela has 17 vessels that concentrate on combating drug trafficking, particularly cocaine smuggled from neighboring Colombia meant for the United States or Europe.

Neither Chavez nor Medvedev professed any concern about potential pitfalls.

Chavez signed a deal aboard the ship to buy two Russian Ilyushin II-96 passenger airplanes.

"I'm overwhelmed with emotion," Chavez said.

Non-skeptics can point out, of course, that the Soviet Union served as Cuba’s patron state for nearly 30 years before the Soviet Union collapsed in the late 1980s.

“But Russia is now the most capitalist country in the world,” said Mikhail Makeev, a Caracas-based correspondent for ITAR-Tass, the Russian state news agency.

Under Chavez, Venezuela is practicing “21st century socialism.” The Chavez government has been nationalizing private companies, setting prices for basic goods and spending billions of dollars a year in food, educational and medical subsidies for the poor.

Chavez is also using capitalism as a punching bag for the global economic crisis.

Russia is also seeking to rebuild ties with Cuba. Medvedev flew there on Thursday after 24 hours in Venezuela, on the final leg of a week-long trip to Latin America that included stops in Peru and Brazil.

Analysts in Russia said Medvedev came to Venezuela with dual motives.

He wanted to sell more weapons to Venezuela, which already has purchased $4.4 billion of Russian arms since 2005.

Medvedev also wanted to respond to the Bush administration’s decision to send a ship to the Black Sea to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia following that country’s conflict with Russia in August.

“As an answer, Russia will send its ships to the American zone of interest,” said Alexander Golts, a Moscow-based military analyst for the online Yezhednevny Zhurnal (Daily Journal).

Chavez said the visit shouldn’t bother the United States.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice agreed, saying on Wednesday that the United States retains “the preponderance of power” in the Western Hemisphere.

“A few Russian ships is not going to change the balance of power," she added.

Joint exercises between the Russian vessels _ led by the Peter the Great, a cruiser _ and the Venezuelan ships are scheduled to begin on Dec. 1.

Communications will have to be better than the dispute that led to Thursday’s scuffle.

It appeared to begin when beefy Russian bodyguards blocked Chavez’s protectors from following him up the gangplank onto the Admiral Chabanenko. The Venezuelan bodyguards tried to push their way through. One Venezuelan official grabbed the back collar of a Russian bodyguard.

After Medvedev and Chavez had driven away several hours later, a Russian official named Valery Nikitin downplayed the incident.

“There’s nothing,” he said. “Everything is fine.”

A Russian bodyguard standing alongside was asked to comment.

“Nyet! Nyet!” he replied.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/56613.html