US 'tried to stop missile delivery to Venezuela'

[Judi Lynn]

Monday, December 13, 2010
US 'tried to stop missile delivery to Venezuela'
Reuters, Washington

The United States tried to stop delivery of Russian anti-aircraft missiles to Venezuela in 2009 amid concerns it could pass them on to Marxist guerrillas in Colombia or Mexican drug gangs, The Washington Post said yesterday, citing diplomatic cables from WikiLeaks.

Venezuela, where President Hugo Chavez heads a strongly anti-American government, received at least 1,800 of the SA-24 shoulder-fired missiles from Russia, the Post said, citing UN arms control data.

Secret US cables said Washington was concerned about the acquisition by Caracas of Russian arms, including attack helicopters, Sukhoi fighter jets and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles, the newspaper reported.

It quoted a US State Department cable on Aug. 10, 2009 to embassies in Europe and South America as saying Russian arms sales to Venezuela totalled "over $5 billion last year and growing." Concern about Spanish plans to sell aircraft and patrol boats to Venezuela were also cited in the cable

More:
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=165865

[social_critic]

1. That's an old policy

The US government has been trying to gather all the shoulder fired anti aircraft missiles IT sold to other nations to reduce the chance they get into the hands of terrorists.

I'd rather see the US government work on a policy which deters terrorism by not getting people so mad at the US they try to use those things, but you know how it is - we pour gasoline on things, toss in a match, then we pay for the fire extinguishers, but they turn out not to work all the time.

[Judi Lynn]

2. George Bush had Bolivia's missiles removed just before Evo Morales won by a landslide.

US Denies Removal of Bolivian Missiles Was Secret
By David Gollust
Washington
23 December 2005

The United States denied Thursday that it removed anti-aircraft missiles from Bolivia without the knowledge of top officials in La Paz. The State Department says the operation was at the request of Bolivian authorities and in line with an Organization of American States resolution.

Officials here acknowledge that the United States removed a small number of MANPADS, man-portable air defense system, from Bolivia earlier this year as part of a broader effort to keep the shoulder launch missiles out of the hands of terrorists.

But they are denying charges from Bolivia, which figured in that country's presidential election campaign, that the operation was conducted without the knowledge of senior Bolivian officials.

Bolivian President-elect Evo Morales, the victor in last Sunday's election, has alleged that the 28 Chinese-made missiles were spirited out of the country in June in an operation he described as international intervention.

More:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2005/12/mil-051223-voa01.htm

~~~~~
In October 2005, presidential candidate Morales denounced the
deactivation or destruction by the U.S. military of an undetermined
quantity (press sources estimate between nineteen and 31) of
Chinese-made surface-to-air missiles of the Bolivian armed
forces after they were removed from the country. While these
allegations were denied at first by the military command, the
army’s head, General Marcelo Antezana, admitted (and then
denied) deactivation of the missiles out of concern for Morales’
possible election. On 9 March 2006, former President Eduardo
Rodríguez, former Defence Minister Gonzalo Méndez and
former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Marco
Antonio Justiniano were formally accused of high treason after
an investigation by the attorney general’s office. La Razón, 10
March 2006.

http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/latin-america/boliva/18_bolivia_s_rocky_road_to_reforms.ashx

~~~~~
Bolivia hands over its missiles to the United States

Evo Morales, “cocalero” and MAS (Movement towards Socialism) leader, and presidential candidate for elections in Bolivia scheduled for December 18, recently stated that 28 MHN-5 surface-to-air missiles made in China had disappeared. The missiles were in Bolivian arsenals and handed over to the United States for “deactivation”.

Morales indicated he was planning to file a lawsuit against the current acting president Eduardo Rodríguez and his minister of defense Gonzalo Méndez Gutiérrez, for “betraying the homeland” (a popular uprising to overthrow the former president Carlos Mesa from power in June 2005). In order to justify why the Chinese missiles were sent to the United States, the Bolivian authorities mentioned that such equipment was obsolete, and their handling was dangerous. It seems, though, that they had been acquired in China in the early 90’s and were in perfect condition.

Furthermore, they were the only missiles that the Bolivian army had, and whose lack of ordnance is chronic. In that case, why giving those weapons away?

Used to different forms of interference in Latin America, in 2004, the United States had already tried unsuccessfully to convince the former president Carlos Mesa to hand over such armaments, said the former Foreign Minister Juan Ignacio Siles. The imminent presidential decision and fear over Evo Morales’ victory are obviously the factors that precipitated the events.

More:
http://www.voltairenet.org/article133814.html

~~~~~
23 December 2005
Evo Morales faces his first problem: what happened to Bolivia's air defence missiles?
President-Elect Evo Morales of Bolivia met the outgoing President Eduardo Rodriguez to discuss the handover of power yesterday. However, the new President faces a problem with the USA even before taking office. Put simply, what happened to Bolivia's air-defence missiles?

The country had 28 or 30 Chinese built HN-SA hand-held anti-aircraft missiles that seem to have vanished from the military's arsenal. By all accounts they were stolen by the American Embassy with the conivence of Bolivian military officers, during May or June of this year. It is reported that they were taken aboard an unmarked C-130 transport aircraft and removed from the country.

When Evo Morales first made these allegations last month, the Bolivian army claimed that the missiles had been disposed of as part of an "annual disposal of obsolete equipment," and the army also claimed that the weapons were still in the country. However, army reports which were released this month show that the missiles, which cost Bolivia about £1,000,000, were well-maintained and had ten more years of service left in them.

At this point I fully expect some idiotic hand-shandyist for war to write in and tell me that 30 missiles will not protect anyone from the American armed forces. Don't bother, lads, because I know this. Besides, it's not the point.

The point is that the theft proves that the United States has pretty thoroughly infiltrated the Bolivian army. Should a future President Morales act against America's interests, and he has already said that he will, then the Americans can remove him as they have done so many before him. They would not need to send in the marines, they could set the scene as they did in Chile and then leave it to the locals to do their dirty work for them.

More:
http://www.the-exile.info/2005_12_01_archive.html

~~~~~
MAS Denounces Serious US Interference in Bolivia
Prensa Latina || October 19, 2005

Bolivian presidential candidate Evo Morales denounced Wednesday that troops at the service of the US seized 28 land-air missiles supplied by China to Bolivia and sent them to the United States.

In his news conference, Morales said that "patriotic soldiers" who opposed the operation that took place a few days ago reported the despicable interference to his political party, Movement towards Socialism (MAS).

Consulted by phone, presidential spokesman Julio Pemintel refused to comment and said he had requested information on the matter from Defense Minister Gonzalo Molina.

Morales explained that a Bolivian commando force commanded by elements from the US Embassy and the CIA were involved in the seizure.

He denounced that the group raided an army facility in Viacha, near La Paz, where the missiles were seized and taken to the airport or to El Alto military base, and then were smuggled out of the country by air, supposedly bound for the US.

The weapons had been provided to Bolivia by the People's Republic of China, in accord with bilateral military cooperation agreements.

More:
http://www.knowledgedrivenrevolution.com/Articles/200510/19_US_Bolivia.htm

[dipsydoodle]

3. Next I suppose

somebody will try and tell us that the US didn't supply the Mujahideen with exactly the same stuff when they were fighting the Russians. Only difference of course was that the supply of those benefited the US's Military Industrial Complex whereas in the case ref. Venezuela this benefits Russia.

If, God forbid , Venezuela had a right wing government the US would be supplying them themselves.

The US State Department really should get a life.

[social_critic]

6. Well, those were meant to shoot down Soviet aircraft

We didn't give the mujahideen missiles to fight the Russians, the Russians never did invade Afghanistan (that was during Soviet days, remember?). The US effort has been wide ranging. I tend to be anti war, so I always wonder, why would a country bother to spend a lot of weapons? This applies even more to a poor country like Bolivia.

When I think of it, why should they even bother to have armed forces? They would do better with a quality National Guard, and reservists. The National Guard could have helicopters, which would be used mostly to provide disaster relief, and a few planes which can be used to carry a paratrooper National Guardsmen (I would have a battallion sized force trained to jump just in case).

The country's air defenses would be served better by anti-aircraft missile batteries using radar guidance - those are fairly large and expensive, but it does make sense to have some just in case.

I'm sort of guessing, because I don't have a good idea of what the Bolivians think is the main threat to their country, but I would guess it's an internal threat, guerrillas like the FARC, rather than an invasion force. If Brazil decides to invade them, they got no chance, Argentina's too busy with Chile to look that far north, and Chile and Peru also look like unlikely candidates to attack Bolivia. But if they did decide to send some planes over, then the larger radar guided missiles would be a lot more useful.

[Peace Patriot]

4. I responded to this one in LBN...

...Comment # 11, here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4655798

------------------

U.S. government hypocrisy never ceases to make me...

:puke:

[rabs]

5. Xposting the leaked cables from LBN thread

Post #13

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4655798