Venezuela may buy Russian Sukhoi planes- Chavez

Caracas (Venezuela), May 8: Venezuela is considering the purchase of Russian Sukhoi airplanes, President Hugo Chavez said, following US efforts to prevent Venezuela from buying military aircraft from other countries.

Chavez has accused the United States of blocking the sale of replacement parts for Venezuela's F-16 fighter jets, and US authorities have moved to block military sales to Venezuela from Brazil and Spain on charges that Chavez is a threat to regional stability.

''They delay the shipment of replacement parts for F-16s ...

so we're reviewing Sukhoi planes,'' Chavez said during his weekly Sunday broadcast.

A defense ministry representative said during the broadcast that he had been to Russia to fly Sukhoi aircraft, but he did not mention specific models or quantities that Venezuela would seek to purchase.

Sukhoi is a major Russian military aircraft producer.

US authorities in January refused to grant an export license for Venezuela's purchase of 12 planes, four patrol boats and four warships produced by Spain's EADS-CASA that contain US technology.

The United States can block third parties from selling vessels containing US technology.

Venezuela said last month it had found replacement parts for most of the US components contained in the EADS-CASA craft and still wanted to push ahead with the purchase.

Chavez has said he would buy military aircraft from Russia or China after accusing the US of snubbing him, and has threatened to hand over F-16 technology to Cuba.

The Venezuelan leader unnerved the Bush administration by buying 100,000 Russian Kalashnikov rifles, which US authorities warned could end up in the hands of leftist rebels in neighboring Colombia.

Venezuela, the world's No 5 oil exporter, is mired in political tension with the United States, which imports around 1.2 million barrels per day of Venezuelan oil.

The leftist Chavez, a former soldier who has promised a socialist revolution to end poverty, has developed close alliances with US foes like Iran and Cuba and frequently accuses the Bush administration of plotting his assassination.

US officials portray Chavez as a fledgling dictator who is using the nation's oil wealth to destabilise regional democracy.

Reuters