meerkat1
17.05.06, 23:50
US bans arms sales to Venezuela
The US is imposing a ban on arms sales to Venezuela.
The US state department said the decision was taken because of what it said
was Venezuela's lack of support for counter-terrorism efforts.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the ban "doesn't matter to us at all",
saying it confirmed that Washington wanted to trample on smaller countries.
Relations between the US and Venezuela are severely strained on a number of
issues, including oil prices and trade.
The left-wing Mr Chavez, who is currently on a tour of London, has described
his US counterpart George W Bush as a "terrorist", denouncing Washington's
Middle East policies.
'Country of concern'
Venezuela is an important source of crude oil for the US, but the
relationship between the two countries has been deteriorating for some time.
The state department has repeatedly expressed its concern over Venezuela's
contacts with Iran and Cuba and also over its relations with armed groups
operating in Colombia which the US considers terrorist organisations.
[The US is] the empire and it has a great capacity to do harm to the
countries of the world.
Hugo Chavez
Chavez's London impact
US state department spokeswoman Darla Jordan said that for a year Venezuela
had shown what she called nearly total lack of support for counter-terrorism
efforts.
As a result Venezuela was being listed as "a country of concern".
The ban means Washington will not permit any military sales to Venezuela, the
spokeswoman said. The re-sale of arms manufactured in other countries would
also be prohibited.
Washington has already put pressure on Spain and Brazil to halt their plans
to supply military equipment - including aircraft - to Venezuela which
contains some US technology.
[<news.bbc.co.uk/Americas]
