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Russia To Deploy Warships To Venezuela

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The Associated Press

Published: September 9, 2008

CARACAS, Venezuela - Russia's plan to deploy ships and warplanes to the Caribbean for joint military exercises with Venezuela is allowing President Hugo Chavez to capitalize on tensions between Moscow and the United States and showcase a growing military alliance.

Russia announced Monday that it will send a naval squadron and long-range patrol planes for the exercises later this year, a move that appeared retaliatory after the United States sent warships to deliver aid to Georgia following its conflict with Russia.

The deployment is expected to be the largest Russian naval maneuvers in the Caribbean, and perhaps the Western Hemisphere, since the Cold War.

Chavez considers the United States a defense threat, and his welcoming of the Russian navy contrasted with his sharp criticism of the recent reactivation of the U.S. Navy's Fourth Fleet for the Caribbean and Latin America. He ridiculed possible U.S. concerns about the Russian deployment on Sunday, saying: "Go ahead and squeal, Yankees."

"This is vintage Chavez. He rarely misses an opportunity to needle and provoke Washington," said Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Washington-based think tank Inter-American Dialogue. "He is taking advantage of the growing chill in U.S.-Russia relations, especially over the situation in Georgia, to poke his finger in President Bush's eye. There is nothing he relishes more."

Chavez says the U.S. Fourth Fleet poses a threat to the region. U.S. officials say the fleet will help maintain security while performing humanitarian missions and counter-drug operations.

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