Chavez and Putin, Sept. 10, 2009 (AP)
First, Chavez announced he wants a nuclear program. But it’s okay, he said, because like Iran, his would be peaceful:
The Venezuelan leader is already dismissing critics’ concerns over his nuclear ambitions, offering assurances his aims are peaceful and that Venezuela will simply be following in the footsteps of other South American nations using atomic energy.
“I say it before the world: Venezuela is going to start the process of developing nuclear energy, but we’re not going to make an atomic bomb, so don’t be bothering us afterward … (with) something like what they have against Iran,” Chavez said Sunday.
The socialist president is closely allied with Iran and defends its nuclear program while the U.S. and other countries accuse Tehran of having a secret nuclear weapons program.
Who would actually sell crazy-man Chavez a nuclear reactor? Why, Russia, of course!
Yet his project remains in its planning stages and still faces a host of practical hurdles, likely requiring billions of dollars, as well as technology and expertise that Venezuela lacks.
Russia has offered to help bridge that gap, and Chavez has announced that the two countries have created an atomic energy commission.
The role of enabler of the nuclear ambitions of sketchy quasi-dictators seems to be par for the course for Russia right now (this paragraph about two-thirds of the way down):
Indeed, a senior Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday that Jerusalem was concerned that Russia was playing the role of “the wrench in the works” when it came to international pressure on Iran. “All the other nations are roughly on the same page. China seems to be taking its cue from Russia. It’s Russia that’s saying this [Iranian proposal] is something we can work with,” said the official.
In other happy-go-lucky Venezuela news, Venezuela’s foreign minister blamed US support for Columbia for the country’s growing arms purchases:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has announced a string of recent contracts with Moscow to buy 24 advanced fighter jets, 92 battle tanks and 300 surface-to-air missiles among other weapons acquisitions. The total value of the deals is more than six billion dollars.
A fierce US critic, Chavez has said the arms are not to threaten neighboring countries but a response to threats he sees from the US “empire” wanting to invade his oil-rich nation.
You get the general trend? Last Thursday, the Washington Post finally did.
Huge hat tip: Mere Rhetoric
