Russia has recently loaned Venezuela $4 billion to buy Russian military hardware, confirming Moscow and Caracas’ growing strategic relationship. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said that the agreement had been made during his visit to Russia this October, although no official mention was made of this at the time.
Commenting on the Russian loan, Mr Chavez noted that: “We were in Russia not long ago and the Russian government gave us a $4 billion credit to help us with our defence capability.”
He added that the reason why his country is building up its military capability is to defend itself from the clutches of the United States and its allies, the latter probably meaning Colombia, a staunch ally to Washington and which shares a common border with Venezuela.
Since an American arms embargo was placed on Venezuela in 2006, President Chavez has orientated his country towards Russia and spent billions of dollars on Russian arms including tanks, assault rifles, attack aircraft and helicopter gunships.
Russia’s return to the politics of Latin America in the last few years has mainly been on the back of the close relations which have been forged between itself and Venezuela.
For Venezuela, befriending Russia has resulted in the securing of strong political and military support from the Kremlin on the international stage for the socialist government of Hugo Chavez.
As for Russia, coming to the aid of Venezuela has enabled it to reassert its Soviet-era influence in Latin America and challenge the United States in a region that American policymakers have historically considered as their country’s “backyard”.
