Alarm over Chavez's Military Buildup

The Venezuelan President's show of force on Colombia's border has heightened U.S. concerns about his escalating arms purchases from Russia

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez delivers a speech during a new year's celebration at Tiuna fort in Caracas, Dec. 28, 2007 PEDRO REY/AFP/Getty Images

by Peter Wilson

While Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez likes to boast that his revolution is constructing a new socialist man, he isn't neglecting the country's soldiers whose support is essential to his rule. Over the last three years, Chávez has spent more than $4 billion on jet fighters, attack helicopters, and rifles. And he is poised to spend billions more later this year on Russian-made submarines and air defense systems.

Chávez's growing military clout was no more apparent than in last week's confrontation with Colombia over the death of a rebel leader. The strike by Colombian forces that killed Raul Reyes, the No. 2 man in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), took place inside the Ecuadorean border. But it was Chávez who immediately escalated the conflict by sending nine battalions of men, plus armor and military jets, to his country's frontier with Colombia. Colombia countered with accusations that a computer belonging to Reyes revealed Chávez had sent $300 million to the FARC.

Saber Rattling on the Border

A summit of Latin American Presidents in the Dominican Republic managed to defuse the confrontation within days. But Chávez's quick deployment of force in a dispute that didn't directly involve him fanned fears that Venezuela's leader is bent on changing the region's military balance as he accelerates his socialist revolution. Chávez's reliance on Russian weaponry is also adding Washington-Moscow's rivalry to the mix, further escalating tensions.

Chávez's military mobilization helped push oil prices to record highs, as traders feared the conflict could spill over to oil fields in Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. As the three countries sparred last week, closing oil prices rose more than $3, to $105.15 a barrel, on Mar. 7, up from $101.84 a barrel on Feb. 29. Venezuela supplies about 1.4 million barrels of oil to the U.S. daily—about 11% of American oil imports. Colombia and Ecuador export a total of 331,000 barrels daily to the U.S.

Since 2005, Chávez has bought 24 Sukhoi fighter jets, more than four dozen military helicopters, and 100,000 AK-47 assault rifles from Russia. Later this year, he is expected to purchase up to nine diesel submarines and anti-aircraft systems when he visits Moscow.

Military Spending Irks Washington

In the process, Chávez has made his country Latin America's largest arms purchaser and has become Russia's second-largest arms customer (after Algeria) during the 2005-2007 period. Chávez has said that the country is seeking to diversify its arms suppliers, breaking its dependence on U.S. companies.

"Chávez's military spending raises the ante," says Ray Walser, an analyst with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. "It raises fears that he could use those purchases against his neighbors."

The U.S. imposed an arms embargo on Venezuela two years ago. Washington also scuttled a Venezuelan arms deal with Brazil in 2005 and with Spain in 2006 because the planes and frigates involved used U.S. technology. "You have to remember that Chávez has only turned to Russia because of the U.S. arms embargo," says Julia Buxton, a professor at the University of Bradford in England, who has authored a book about Venezuela. "He is trying to make up an arms deficit" that has been exacerbated by the U.S. arming neighboring Colombia in its battle against the FARC, she says.

Chávez says his country's military purchases and greater reliance on Russia are needed to guard against a possible invasion by the U.S. His fears of U.S. intervention have grown since an unsuccessful coup attempt in 2002 that Chávez claims had U.S. support. The U.S. has repeatedly said it has no plans to invade Venezuela or seek Chávez's replacement. A 2006 study by the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency said Venezuela's arms buildup was aimed at undermining U.S. influence in the region while attracting countries to Chávez's brand of populist socialism.