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SOUTH AMERICA: Venezuela, ¿quiere ser grande entre pequeños?

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by Juan Pablo Tettay De Fex

Dicen por ahí que entre ciegos el tuerto es rey. En un principio, el popular refrán podría tener aplicación en el caso de Venezuela y del presidente Hugo Chávez.

Si se hace una lectura rápida de la geoestrategia del Ciudadano Presidente se avisora un panorama que deja ver que a Venezuela lo que le interesa es establecer relaciones con países más pequeños para ser siempre el más poderoso.

Hace unas semanas, Caracas fue la sede de un encuentro entre todos los países del Caribe en el que se discutirían temas energéticos y de cooperación alrededor de ellos.

SOUTH AMERICA: Venezuela, ¿quiere ser grande entre pequeños?Pero para el analista político César Restrepo hablar de que Chávez quiera ser el pez más grande entre los chicos es partir de un juicio de valor.

"Para el hombre la ambición es muy importante y eso se replica también con los Estados", explica el analista. "Lo que Chávez hace está directamente relacionado con la capacidad de influencia que tiene el país y dentro de ese juego, los ricos siempre tendrán roles directivos".

No sería raro esperar lo mismo de cualquier país si tuviera entonces las capacidades financieras y económicas que tiene Venezuela y que hoy en día están sustentadas totalmente en las reservas petroleras.

Esto queda evidenciado en las palabras del economista venezolano José Guerra: "el petróleo no es una de las partes, es la parte".

De ese modo, los hidrocarburos son los que hoy dejan a Venezuela establecer las relaciones internacionales que tiene con países en toda América Latina, en África, en Asia y en Europa y que van orientadas, además, hacia una política antiimperialista.

SOUTH AMERICA: Venezuela, ¿quiere ser grande entre pequeños?Contra E.U.
Para el analista venezolano Daniel Hernández, "la política de Estados Unidos está dirigida hacia una guerra agresiva de invasión y de recolonización".

Ese contexto es el que usa el presidente Chávez en su Plan de Desarrollo Económico y Social cuando habla de "promover un mundo multipolar".

Y por ello es que, según Hernández, no es que se rodee de países pequeños, sino de Estados que pueden tener una política similar y que se identifican con la visión antiimperial y pluripolar del planeta.

De hecho, si se hace una lectura del documento en el que el presidente venezolano establece el norte para su plan de gobierno entre 2000 y 2007, se evidencia una política de integración que se ha visto materializada en propuestas como el Alba o como Unasur.

Solidaridad
Otro aspecto que se hace evidente para Hernández es que Venezuela basa sus relaciones internacionales en la solidaridad. "No es justo venderle petróleo a E.U. y a Haití a los mismos precios" agrega el analista.

Sin embargo, para José Guerra lo único que el mandatario venezolano busca al subsidiar el precio del petróleo para los países en vías de desarrollo es "comprar apoyo. Es una política hegemónica disfrazada de solidaridad".

Solidario o no, Hugo Chávez ha sabido explotar una serie de condiciones que lo ponen en un lugar privilegiado: su ubicación, sus reservas petroleras y, tal vez lo que más ha sabido explotar es el hecho de que, según César Restrepo, E.U. haya olvidado a la región para concentrarse en Medio Oriente. "Chávez cubre el vacío que dejó Estados Unidos con la chequera".

Doble vía
Sin embargo, hay un elemento que permite pensar que Chávez busca una estrategia de doble vía.

"Quiere ser el más grande entre los pequeños, pero también quiere jugar en las grandes ligas", dice José Guerra.

Y es por ello que busca relaciones con potencias como Rusia y China que le pueden dar un buen respaldo.

"Venezuela ni siquiera hace parte del club de países emergentes como México o Brasil", agrega César Restrepo.

Por ello es importante para Chávez empezar a hacer presencia en el ámbito de la política y de la economía internacionales y si aún no es potencia emergente, por lo menos sí lo es energética y eso le garantiza influencia en el planeta. "Con esto hace trabajo de pantalla, pero está de más recordar que los hidrocarburos le dan un apoyo bastante frágil", concluye César Restrepo.

GEORGIA: Georgian police looking for downed plane in Kodori

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A special group of Georgia's Interior Ministry left for the Kodori Gorge Saturday to look for a plane allegedly downed in the area after Georgian airspace violation August 21.

The Rustavi-2 TV company reported Friday citing eyewitnesses that an aircraft could have fallen near the Lata village, but locals said they were unable to approach the site due to complicated weather conditions.

A Georgian Interior Ministry representative said Georgia fired on a plane that allegedly violated the country's airspace August 21, but an aide to the Russian Air Force commander called Tbilisi's statements a provocation, denying any flights by Russian planes at that time.

Georgia's Foreign Ministry delivered a note of protest to the Russian Foreign Ministry Wednesday claiming Georgian airspace had been violated from Russia the day before. Russia has denied the claim.

Georgia has also accused the Russian Air Force of violating its airspace and dropping a missile on a village August 6, a claim Russia has also denied.




Via: Russian News & Information Agency



EUROASIA: Russia will destroy only its own chemical weapons - general

Russia will not accept proposals to destroy chemical weapons decommissioned by other countries on its territory, a senior military official said Friday.

"The Russian Federation will destroy only chemical weapons from the former arsenals of the Russian Army, said Lieutenant General Valery Kapashin, chief of the Federal Department for the Safe Storage and Liquidation of Chemical Weapons.

Russia signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) January 13, 1993, and ratified it November 5, 1997. The country declared an arsenal of 40,000 metric tons of chemical weapons in 1997, and has so far destroyed 8,000 tons.

The CWC convention stipulates four phases of weapons and materials destruction in Russia. One percent of the weapons were destroyed in the first phase and 20% in the second phase. Forty-five percent will be scrapped in the third phase, and the remaining 34% in the fourth. "Every country must destroy its chemical weapons on its own territory," the general said.

Russia has allocated $7.18 billion from the federal budget for the implementation of the program and built at least three chemical weapons destruction plants - at Gorny, in the central Saratov Region, at Kambarka, in the Republic of Udmurtia, and at the Maradykovsky complex in the Kirov Region.

Four facilities are still under construction at various locations throughout the country. Kapashin reaffirmed that Russia would fulfill its obligations under the CWC to destroy all of its chemical weapon stockpiles by 2012.


Via: Russian News & Information Agency



EUROASIA: Belarus asks Russia for S-400 SAM systems by 2010 - source

Belarus wants Russia to supply them with the advanced S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) air defense system in 2010, a source in Russian military-industrial circles said Friday.

The S-400 Triumf is a new air defense missile system developed by the Almaz Central Design Bureau as an upgrade of the S-300 family. Russia first demonstrated the S-400 system at an ongoing air show outside Moscow.

"Belarus submitted a formal request for two S-400 battalions to be made available by 2010," the source said.

He said that it is too soon to talk about a specific timeframe for the contract, but if the Belarusian application is accepted and all contract terms are honored, the S-400 systems could be delivered in 2010.

Another military official said Thursday no S-400 SAM systems will be exported to any country, including the CIS, in the next few years.

"A decision to export such systems may only be made by the country's top leadership," the expert said, commenting on a recent statement by Belarus's defense minister about his country's intention to buy S-400 systems.

Almaz General Director Igor Ashurbeili said previously production and the subsequent export of S-400s could start in 2009. Russia has deployed an S-400 battalion to protect the airspace around the capital, Moscow.

The S-400 has been designed to intercept and destroy airborne targets at a distance of up to 400 kilometers (250 miles), or twice the range of the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot, and 2.5 times that of the S-300PMU-2.

The system is believed to have high capability to destroy stealth aircraft, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles with an effective range of up to 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles), and a speed of up to 4.8 kilometers (3 miles) per second.

Experts believe that the ability to intercept and destroy cruise missiles and ballistic missiles makes the S-400 Triumf a crucial part of theater missile defenses. A regular S-400 battalion comprises at least eight launchers and 32 missiles and a mobile command post, according to various sources.



Via: Russian News & Information Agency



EUROASIA: Russia starts serial production of new navigation systems - 1

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Russian manufacturers are starting serial production of new navigation systems on the basis of the Glonass technology for strategic aviation, the first deputy general director of a design bureau said Saturday.

"The [Moscow-based] Kompas design bureau announces the end of state tests. We have received approval for serial production of PUIN indication and navigation control panels on the basis of the Glonass technology. Production will be for Tu-160 [Blackjack], Tu-95 [Bear] and others that resumed on the Russian president's instruction constant combat duty August 17," Anatoly Malygin said.

Malygin said the new development will make part of the new navigation equipment for strategic bombers. Should the main system fail, PUIN will be able to take up all its functions, Malygin said, adding that PUIN will ensure greater reliability in fulfilling both training and combat tasks.

The Kompas Moscow Design Bureau is one of the Russian developers of Glonass devices, as well as special software for personal use devices.

Russia is developing a global satellite navigation system, Glonass, a Russian version of the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), which is designed for both military and civilian use, and allows users to identify their positions in real time.

A total of 9.88 billion rubles ($379.7 million) have been allocated for Glonass from the federal budget in 2007, and 4.72 billion ($181.4 million) in 2006. The system is to become fully operational by 2008.

Via: Russian News & Information Agency