Colombia Seeks Russian Arms to Match Venezuela, Kommersant Says

[Judi Lynn]

Colombia Seeks Russian Arms to Match Venezuela, Kommersant Says

By Bradley Cook

May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos will visit Moscow next month to express concern about Russian arms sales to Venezuela and hold talks on buying similar weapons as a countermeasure, Kommersant reported.

Santos will use his 10-day visit, the first by a Colombian of his rank, to try to convince Russia to curtail arms shipments to President Hugo Chavez's Venezuela, which Colombia accuses of arming FARC rebels, the Moscow-based newspaper said, citing an interview with the vice president.

Venezuela in the last three years has bought Russian fighter jets, attack helicopters and air defense systems, as well as 100,000 machineguns, some of which may have gone to the rebels, Kommersant said. Colombia is interested in acquiring fighter jets, transport helicopters, armored vehicles, air-traffic control systems and night-vision equipment, the newspaper said

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aHlPnMhO5.6A&refer=latin_america

[Judi Lynn]

1. Russian weapons: Colombia wants to out-buy Venezuela

20:00 | 27/ 05/ 2008

Russian weapons: Colombia wants to out-buy Venezuela

Francisco Santos, vice president of Colombia, is to visit Russia early in June. The subject matter of the first such call in the history of relations between the two countries will be military-technical cooperation.
Colombia, worried by the Hugo Chavez regime building up its military muscle, is determined to maintain the balance of strength. For this reason it is prepared to buy weapons from Russia. In exchange for contracts, Bogota will try to persuade Moscow to cut its arms supplies to Venezuela.

Analysts agree that Moscow stands to gain from Colombia's proposal. "Russia is interested in a multi-vectored and pragmatic policy in Latin America, and so Moscow is unlikely to focus on any one country," said Vladimir Davydov, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Latin American Studies. "I think Russia will readily respond to Colombia's bid."

Russia's current supplies to Colombia are insignificant. "Over the past five years we have only sent the Colombians a few Mi-17 helicopters. This does not even compare with a three-billion dollar bill for military deliveries to neighboring Venezuela, which also include 24 Su-30MK2V fighters," said Ivan Konovalov, deputy director of the Center for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.

In his view, the present situation is a paradoxical replay of the recent Cold War times when the Soviet penetration of the Latin American arms market was dictated by political considerations alone. The U.S. political establishment is sounding the alarm, citing the Latin American case as part of a general trend, of Russia's great-power revival and the Kremlin's wish to again oppose the U.S. in any part of the world.

"There are no political ulterior motives attached here," Konovalov said. "This is mere financial interest. The U.S. itself lost this lucrative market when it embargoed arms supplies to Venezuela in 2005."

More:
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080527/108608879.html