Analyst says purchase of weapons violates the law
Sunday, April 11, 2010


Rocio San Miguel, Political analyst and military expert in military affairs expert and director of the NGO Social Watch, Rocío San Miguel, said that the purchase of weapons by the government as unconstitutional has not complied with the legal mandate to establish what the potential threats and therefore if necessary or not spending on weapons. "Venezuela has not defined the strategic concept of the Nation, that is a constitutional mandate and we are waiting for this to be done because it is what defines what the threats and therefore what would be the national defense strategy," said the expert.


It notes that Russia is so far as the main supplier to Venezuela, taking a cut of about 80% of expenditure made by the country in this sector, the remaining 12 countries have sold arms to the country, including the United States not reach 20%.

"We could be talking about 30 billion dollars between what the ads mean, what's coming and what has already bought the national government in these 11 years, this could be a conservative figure. With Russia clearly arrived 10 billion dollars and with that comes we could reach 12 billion dollars, "he said.

Military and geopolitical reorganization

Warns military expert on the subject than the volume, the amount and size of acquisitions will reconsider a military reorganization in Venezuela.

"I believe that once these acquisitions start to get the map of naval zones, areas and aerial military divisions in which it divided the army will be completely changed, because there is no such number of divisional in Venezuela to manage firepower that will come and this will strengthen the approach to strategic regions of integral defense. "

This type of procurement, says San Miguel, alter regional geopolitics. "The patterns of national defense must not only be drawn in terms of what is accumulated, the more we have not always championed are more but that the more we can also set off a threat credible enough to become vulnerable."

He explained that the regional geopolitics altered at this point that is being done "may be that rather than generate a spark to make sure that disrupts this security, rather than deter, generate a confrontation." AFP

Unprotected Borders

Despite this large and expensive arms purchases, San Miguel, reports on the flats or weaknesses that still has the country in defense matters such as protection of their borders.

"We continue to fundamental weaknesses in the major national security issue is to patrol the land border in Venezuela, I must say that we have received information that the presence of the FARC in the Sierra de Perija and low rush that is present in the path Tucupita ranging from navigation to flint, we could already be in a ring border control at the border. " AFP