Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SANTIAGO142
2007-01-25 11:05:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Santiago
Cable title:
MEDIA REACTION - VENEZUELA MILITARY PURCHASES
how-toVZCZCXYZ0005 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHSG #0142 0251105 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 251105Z JAN 07 FM AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0815 INFO RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 1248
UNCLAS SANTIAGO 000142
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR IIP/G/WHA, INR/R/MR, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO PGOV CI VE
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - VENEZUELA MILITARY PURCHASES
On January 23, government-owned, financially autonomous TVN
"Medianoche": A report by the U.S. Department of Defense reported
that between 2005-2006, Venezuela spent more money on military
purchases than China, Iran or Pakistan. Some believe this is in
defiance of the U.S. Chilean defense analyst Eduardo Santos wrote
that the U.S. cannot do anything to slow the military expenditures
because Venezuela would stop exporting oil to the U.S., and that the
real concern is not the weapons themselves but the ideology behind
their purchase. According to defense analyst Miguel Navarro,
Venezuela's acquisition of higher technology arms poses a threat
because it could provoke an arms race in the region.
KELLY