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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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 Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:21 pm Post subject: More Trouble in U.S.-Venezuelan Relations... |
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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's military is considering the possibility of selling its fleet of U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to another country, perhaps Iran, a Venezuelan military official said Tuesday.
In response to a U.S. ban on arms sales to President Hugo Chavez's government, Gen. Alberto Muller, a senior adviser to Chavez, told The Associated Press he had recommended to the defense minister that Venezuela consider selling the 21 jets to another country.
Muller said he thought it was worthwhile to consider "the feasibility of a negotiation with Iran for the sale of those planes."
Even before the United States announced the ban on arms sales Monday, Washington had stopped selling Venezuela sensitive upgrades for the F-16s.
Chavez previously has warned he could share the U.S. jets with Cuba if Washington does not supply parts for the planes. He also has said he may look into buying fighter jets from Russia or China instead.
U.S. officials have said a 1982 contract requires Venezuela to consult with Washington before transferring any F-16s to another country.
The U.S. State Department, in announcing the ban on arms sales Monday, cited Venezuela's close relations with Iran and Cuba, both of which it deems state sponsors of terrorism.
Venezuela originally purchased its fleet of F-16s in 1983. Until Chile acquired a fleet in 2003, Venezuela was the only Latin American country to possess the warplanes made by Lockheed Martin Corp.
Chavez has accused the United States of breaching its contract to supply parts for the planes and of pressuring other countries not to help maintain them.
"The recommendation that I'm making to the minister, and which I will make to the president at the appropriate time, is that the [F-16s] be sold to a third party because if they aren't complying with their part of the agreement, we don't have any obligation to comply with our part," Muller told the AP.
U.S. officials say the agreement under which the planes were sold does not require the United States to supply parts indefinitely to Venezuela or to upgrade the planes.
U.S. officials say periodic amendments to the F-16 contract have authorized the limited sale of replacement parts to Venezuela in the past. |
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americas/05/16/venezuela.arms.ap/index.html
Last edited by Gopher on Sun Jun 11, 2006 1:37 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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happeningthang
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 5:46 pm Post subject: |
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| The enemy of my enemy is my friend. |
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dulouz
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: Uranus
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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There is no problem selling palnes to Iran. The planes will deteriorate quickly and the pilot training will be bad. They might glean some intelligence but Chavez has aleady sent that out.
Chavez has studied Hitler well. |
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jinglejangle
Joined: 19 Feb 2005
Location: Far far far away.
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| Posted: Tue May 16, 2006 8:28 pm Post subject: |
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| There is no problem selling palnes to Iran. The planes will deteriorate quickly and the pilot training will be bad. They might glean some intelligence but Chavez has aleady sent that out. |
I doubt they'll learn much from planes that old. They'll have a bear of a time getting spare parts too. On the other hand, Iran isn't really all that bad at reverse engineering and manufacturing their own spare parts. On the other hand, didn't all those F-14s we gave them wind up having to be relegated to a reconnisance role?
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| Chavez has studied Hitler well. |
That sounds interesting but I'm afraid I don't know what you're getting at. Would you be willing to elaborate? |
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