In Russia Visit, Chavez Has Military on His Mind

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wound up his visit to Russia on June 30 with a trip to a helicopter factory in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, accusing the United States of “aggression” and calling for a joint fight against “imperialism.”br /“Russia and Venezuela are brother nations … we want a multipolar world free of hegemony and imperialism, but we cannot achieve that without this,” Chavez said, gesturing at different helicopters on display in the Rostvertol factory.br /“The U.S. empire has plans of aggression. It had already tried something of the sort a few years ago, when a U.S. aircraft carrier entered Venezuela’s territorial waters. It was practically an aggression,” he added.br /Chavez also praised Russia for “helping to break the blockade that the United States was preparing against Venezuela,” saying that he received “Moscow’s support” at the time.br /During the trip to the factory, the Venezuelan leader eyed the state-of-the-art Mi-28N combat helicopter, called “night hunter,” Sergei Chemezov, chief of arms exporter Rosoboronexport, said.br /“He asked us why he was not shown it earlier. We answered that our defense ministry did not yet have it equipped, but now it is and we could offer it to him,” Chemezov said, as quoted by the Interfax news agency.br /Rumors of weapons sales were rampant throughout Chavez’s visit to Russia, which started June 28, but nothing concrete was ever formalized.br /“That is not the priority,” Chavez said, though Russia confirmed June 29 that talks were held over delivery of five diesel- and electricity-powered submarines.br /Russia had already sold 24 Sukhoi fighter airplanes, 53 helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov guns to Venezuela, for a total of 3.5 billion dollars, the Rosoboronexport chief said.br /Chavez also praised “great progress” in “economic and energy” cooperation between the two oil-rich countries.br /In Rostov-on-Don, Chavez, also watched horse races, and was accompanied by Russian President Vladimir Putin and other chiefs of former Soviet republics