Venezuela-Spain weapons purchase blocked by US

The US will not allow Spain to sell Venezuela military aircraft with US technology because it would aid the increasingly "anti-democratic" government of President Hugo Chavez and destabilize the region, the US Embassy said on Friday.

The Spanish government, led by Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, said it regretted the decision, but vowed to move forward with the deal after acquiring the necessary technology elsewhere.

Under the accord, signed in November, Spain agreed to sell Venezuela 12 transport airplanes and eight patrol boats for about 1.7 billion euros (US$2 billion).

Since the airplanes, which are not yet built, were to contain US technology, Spain was required to obtain a license from Washington before completing the sale. Neither Spanish nor US officials would describe the technology.

In rejecting the Spanish request, US officials said the sale amounted to support for an oppressive government that threatened to spread instability.

"Despite being democratically elected, the government of President Hugo Chavez has systematically undermined democratic institutions, pressured and harassed independent media and the political opposition and grown progressively more autocratic and anti-democratic," the embassy said in a statement.

Spanish officials said they respected the US position, but disputed the assertion that the sale would destabilize the region.

Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, the deputy prime minister, said on Friday during her weekly news conference that the airplanes were designed for transportation, not combat, and that the ships were intended for coast guard work.

Over the past year, Spain has been working steadily to repair relations with the US, which deteriorated in 2004 after Zapatero withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq.

The two governments held Cabinet-level meetings last year, and avoided the repeated diplomatic disputes that characterized early relations between US President George W. Bush and Zapatero.

When the CIA was accused last year of using Spanish airports during anti-terrorist missions, Spain refused to openly criticize the US, and rejected accusations from human-rights groups that the planes had been involved in the kidnapping and torture of terrorism suspects.

It is unclear whether the US decision to oppose the Venezuela deal will spoil the good will that both nations say has been building between them.

One Spanish diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the news media, said Spain was committed to avoiding further recriminations.

In the US Embassy statement, officials emphasized that their opposition to the sale did not reflect antagonism toward Spain.