Venezuela's arms deal upsets U.S.

Venezuela's arms deal upsets U.S.

Venezuela and Spain signed a joint weapons deal on Monday despite strong opposition from the United States. At a signing ceremony in Caracas, both countries criticized the United States.

BY PHIL GUNSON AND PABLO BACHELET

pbachelet@herald.com

CARACAS - Spain and Venezuela joined forces in defying Washington on Monday, signing several agreements that allow President Hugo Ch�vez's leftist government to receive a substantial amount of Spanish military equipment.
The deal, worth about $2 billion, is the most valuable ever obtained by the Spanish defense industry. It includes 12 naval transport and reconnaissance aircraft and eight patrol vessels, and according to Spain's Defense Minister Jos� Bono, will support 900 Spanish jobs over nine years.
Eduardo Aguirre, U.S. ambassador to Madrid, recently made explicit Washington's opposition to the deal, which he described as a possible ``destabilizing factor in the region.''
Aguirre said the United States might withhold permission for the transfer of U.S.-licensed components that are part of the deal. The Spanish aircraft use U.S. technology in their communications and radar equipment. The patrol vessels could also use U.S.-designed components, depending on how the Venezuelans choose to equip them, Spanish officials say.
CHAVEZ'S CRITICISM
During the signing ceremony at the Miraflores presidential palace, Ch�vez called the Bush administration an ``imperialist elite which seeks to dominate the world.''
And he praised what he called Spain's ''majestic dignity'' in resisting U.S. pressure.
''Much more than a commercial [deal], this ceremony is one of dignity, and a message to the peoples of the world,'' he said.
The Bush administration has repeatedly accused the leftist-populist Ch�vez of interference in his neighbors' affairs and of support for insurgent groups -- charges the Venezuelan government denies.
It has also expressed concern over what it sees as an unwarranted series of arms acquisitions, including not only the Spanish deal but the purchase from Russia of 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles and a dozen military helicopters.
ACCUSATIONS
In turn, Ch�vez has called Bush a ''genocidal murderer and a madman,'' and accused the U.S. government of planning to invade Venezuela and seeking his assassination.
Ch�vez said the weapons purchases are purely defensive, adding that Washington has failed to honor contractual agreements to supply spare parts for F-16 fighters. U.S. officials have denied the accusations.
Spain's relations with the Bush administration have chilled since Spanish Prime Minister Jos� Luis Rodr�guez Zapatero came to power in April last year and withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq.
To smooth things over, Rodr�guez Zapatero has dispatched almost a dozen of his top aides to visit Washington, including Bono and Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos. Spanish diplomats in Washington say relations have improved.
MAJOR IRRITANT
However, the Venezuelan weapons sale has loomed large as a major irritant and, according to news reports from Spain, has led to tensions within the Spanish government.
''We've made clear to Spanish government authorities our view that contributing to the arms build-up in Venezuela, in light of President Ch�vez's anti-democratic and regionally destabilizing actions, sends the wrong message,'' said Terry Davidson, a spokesman for the State Department's European bureau.
Spain is publicly unrepentant.
''We are not in an age of empires,'' Bono said at the signing ceremony.