Chavez eyes Russian fighters after Brazil deal out

The U.S. government, which accuses Chavez of working to undermine regional democracy, has opposed Venezuela's recent arms purchases and moved to block deals for equipment containing U.S.-made military technology.

Chavez counters that U.S. officials plan to invade Venezuela to seize its oil reserves. He has sought arms deals with Spain, Brazil and Russia and ordered his military and civilian reserves to train for "asymmetric" or resistance warfare.

"We wanted to buy some Brazilian training aircraft for our pilots ... the U.S. has stopped that operation," Chavez told an audience at the helicopter event. "It's a pity for Brazil because it was a good deal ... we are ready to buy Russian fighters to have them here defending the skies."

Tsk Tsk. Venezuela is much more engaged in democracy than the US. The RIGHT WING SOLDIERS that run the US are in a murderous fury because Chavez is nationalizing his oil fields and using profit from that increasingly precious resource to take care of all his citizens, rather than create a sharply stratified society, like the US, that operates on principles of class war, like the US.

There is no equation between capitalism and democracy, though what is practiced in the US isn't even capitalism since the system discourages any real competition.