Venezuela vows to defend itself with new Russian guns

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez showed off a first shipment of Russian guns on Sunday, saying his country would use them to defend itself.

"Venezuela is not going to attack anyone, but I repeat that no one should make any mistakes. We are going to defend this country with everything we have," Chavez said on his weekly television and radio show.

Chavez said 30,000 Kalashnikov AK-103s had arrived on Saturday, the first shipment of more than 100,000 rifles.

Defense Minister Orlando Maniglia appeared on the Chavez weekly show, in a live broadcast from the port of Puerto Cabello, showing containers packed with weapons sent by Russian firm Ros Boronexport.

Venezuela had paid 400 million U.S. dollars for the guns, which would be used for defending its borders, Maniglia said.

Venezuela was also considering to buy Russian-made Sukhoi Su-35 fighters to replace the F-16s, which Venezuela had trouble maintaining because of the U.S. ban on parts export for upgrades.

"I'm going to tell you something in advance. It's very probable...that on July 5 Sukhoi planes will be crossing the skies of Caracas," Chavez said on the show.

Washington recently announced an arms embargo on President Chavez's government, accusing it of failing to cooperate in counter-terrorism efforts.

Source: Xinhua