US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday urged Venezuela to be transparent over its arms purchases as she and Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez expressed worry about a regional arms race.
“We have expressed concern about the number of Venezuelan arms purchases,” Clinton told reporters during a joint press conference with Vazquez.
Venezuela’s arms purchases “outpace all other countries in South America, and certainly raise the question as to whether there is going to be an arms race in the region,” the chief US diplomat said.
“So we urge Venezuela to be transparent in its purchases, clear about its purposes,” Clinton said.
She urged Caracas to set up a system “to ensure that the weapons they buy are not diverted” to insurgent groups or criminal cartels such as drug gangs.
The US is especially worried about Venezuela’s new deal with Moscow to purchase battle tanks, multiple-launch rocket systems, and vehicle-mounted surface-to-air missile systems targeting incoming missiles.
The fledgling Union of South American Nations (Unasur), which includes Uruguay, held a meeting in Ecuador on Tuesday that was called over fears sparked by an agreement allowing the US military access to Colombian bases.
At Colombia’s insistence, the meeting has also been broadened to include discussion of Venezuela’s arms purchases from Russia, and Brazil’s decision to buy French submarines and aircraft.
Vazquez expressed broad concerns without singling out any particular deal.
“With respect to the arms race, not only is our country worried, but we have already expressed time and again our position against an arms race,” Vazquez told reporters.
He said Uruguay opposes an arms race because it diverts resources in a region with a poor distribution of wealth — resources that could be better spent on health, education and housing.
“But it’s a fact, and we can’t deny it, that the countries are buying weapons,” he said.
“South America has millions of people living in poverty, and there are thousands of children that die across Latin America and South America because of child diarrhea or diseases that could be prevented,” he said.
“We should devote our energies and resources to fight against the real scourges of our societies ... such as drug trafficking and terrorism,” he said.
In Caracas, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a fierce US critic, said on Sunday that his country had obtained a US$2.2 billion credit from Russia for arms purchases.
Chavez said Venezuela is buying 92 Soviet-era T-72 main battle tanks, 300mm Smerch multiple-launch rocket systems and vehicle-mounted Russian Antey 2500 surface-to-air missile systems targeting incoming missiles.
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