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Rumsfeld criticizes Venezuelan arms bid

Wednesday, March 23, 2005 Posted: 8:15 PM EST (0115 GMT)

MANAUS, Brazil (AP) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is criticizing Venezuela's reported efforts to purchase 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles from Russia, suggesting that Venezuela's possession of so many weapons would threaten the hemisphere.

Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, has warned that he will cut off shipments of his country's oil to the United States if the Bush administration supports an attempt to force him from office.

Venezuela is the world's fifth largest oil exporter and provides about 13 percent of U.S. crude oil imports.

Harsh accusations and increasing animosity have marked the relationship between the United States and Venezuela.

Rumsfeld, during a four-day trip to Latin America, raised concerns about the reports of Venezuela's rifle purchases Wednesday.

"I can't imagine what's going to happen to 100,000 AK-47s," Rumsfeld said at a news conference in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, which shares a border with Venezuela.

"I can't understand why Venezuela needs 100,000 AK-47s. I personally hope it doesn't happen. I can't imagine, if it did happen, it would be good for the hemisphere," the defense secretary said.

Rumsfeld appeared with Brazil's vice president and defense minister, Jose Alencar, who declined to offer similar criticism of Chavez. Alencar would only say that Brazil respects the right of self-determination of other countries.

Venezuela says its military has about 100,000 troops, plus 30,000 reservists. The United States is concerned that the weapons are intended for domestic militias or foreign guerillas.

Venezuela had no immediate reaction to Rumsfeld's comments. Chavez has insisted that his government poses no threat to the region, and top Venezuelan officials have defended the purchases as necessary replacements for existing weapons. Venezuelan officials also have said the weapons are solely for the military.

A senior U.S. defense official, speaking about Venezuela only on condition of anonymity, said weapons are expected to arrive in a few months. Venezuela also is negotiating for the purchase of at least 40 Russian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters, at least 30 Russian attack helicopters and possibly some Spanish naval vessels, the official said, citing public statements from Venezuelan officials and U.S. intelligence.

Some of the larger weapons systems, such as the helicopters, are useful in border patrol and other operations that the Pentagon regards as legitimate. But the small arms are harder to track and could end up more easily in criminal or guerrilla hands, even if Chavez does not intend so.

In addition, the U.S. official said Chavez is looking to build a small arms ammunition factory that could make the 7.62mm bullets that are in common use among guerillas, criminals and some militaries. That deal is in negotiation.

The chief guerrilla group in neighboring Colombia, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia, or FARC, has faced a shortage in such ammunition and is paying $1 a round or higher in some cases, the official said. The State Department considers FARC a terrorist organization. Brazil does not.

Many of these groups are armed with weapons and ammunition from Nicaragua, a former Soviet client. That source has dried up with a pro-U.S. administration in power in Nicaragua.

Many Latin America nations have reduced the size of their militaries since the violence of the 1980s. Officials fear Chavez's actions could lead to a new arms race.

Also Wednesday, Rumsfeld met with Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, before flying to the jungle city of Manaus to visit the headquarters of what the Brazilians call "SIVAM" -- a powerful array of radars and other sensors networked to monitor both criminal activity and environmental conditions in the Amazon, the world's largest wilderness.

Known in English as the Amazon Surveillance System, the $1.4 billion network of airborne and ground-based radars and computers can monitor illegal landing strips, climatic and soil conditions in some of the two million square miles (five million square kilometers) of Amazon jungle.

Drug flights over the area covered by the network have decreased by 30 percent since it went online, according to defense officials.

SIVAM was built by U.S. defense contractor Raytheon Corp. Critics have argued SIVAM focuses too much on security issues and not enough on regions where illegal logging and other environmental damage take place.