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Gold9472
10-03-2006, 08:23 AM
Rumsfeld relays neighbors' fears about Venezuela
Concerns center on eventual fate of assault rifles

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/world/4231359.html

By MICHAEL HEDGES
10/3/2006

MANAGUA, NICARAGUA - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Monday that Venezuela's neighbors have expressed concerns about its arms buildup.

"I can understand neighbors being concerned," Rumsfeld said at the end of the first day of a two-day meeting of Western Hemisphere defense ministers.

"One additional thing I have heard is concern that some of the things arriving in that country could end up with terrorist groups — the FARC or other groups," he said, naming a Marxist guerrilla movement in neighboring Colombia.

Asked if he bought the claim by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez that recent massive arms purchases were aimed at modernizing his country's armed forces for defensive purposes, Rumsfeld replied, "I don't know of anyone threatening Venezuela. Certainly not anyone in this hemisphere."

Chavez has claimed repeatedly that the United States intends to invade his country — a claim dismissed by U.S. officials — and has called for a regional military alliance among South American nations to act as a counterbalance to American influence in the region.

Venezuela has made an estimated $3 billion in arms purchases in recent months, including 100,000 assault rifles from Russia, and military ships, helicopters and aircraft from Spain.

Venezuela's Defense Minister, Gen. Raul Isaias Baduel, said during Monday's meeting that his country's recent arms expenditures did not threaten a regional arms race.

U.S. and Venezuelan officials have had little contact at this meeting despite a seating chart that put Rumsfeld and Baduel at the opposite ends of a horseshoe-shaped table.

Some Bush administration officials here have expressed concerns that Nicaragua could be susceptible to Venezuelan influence if left-wing Sandinista candidate Daniel Ortega prevails in an upcoming presidential election. Ortega leads most polls, despite efforts by U.S. diplomats to criticize his candidacy in the Nicaraguan press.

The top U.S. military officer with responsibility in the region, Gen. John Craddock, said that in the past few months he was hearing increasing concern from officials of other countries about Venezuela's arms buying.

Craddock said Venezuela's neighbors were particularly concerned about the assault rifles, which, he said, could end up on regional black markets.

Asked about Chavez's charge, leveled on Sunday, that the United States is seeking to assassinate him, Craddock responded, "That is mindless, far out, way over the top."

Neither Rumsfeld nor Craddock suggested any concrete actions against Venezuelan arms purchases at this time. Rumsfeld said it was a matter for regional nations to address through existing protocols.