Colombia expects Venezuela to control outdated weaponry
The Colombian government considered Wednesday that arms procurement
by Venezuela is "legitimate and sovereign," and expected the
nation to act and report transparently and take steps to control
outdated weaponry.
"Any country ought to find the way to keep internal security.
This is the case for Colombia, Venezuela, or Spain. This is
a legitimate, sovereign decision," Colombian Foreign Minister
Carolina Barco said to Caracol radio.
However, in the Venezuelan case, "information and transparency
are significant."
"The purpose of the procurement was discussed and clarified.
It was one of the items top in the agenda of the Tuesday meeting
among the presidents of Brazil, Colombia, Spain and Venezuela,"
Barco added.
The official was making reference to the Colombian concern
about the procurement by Venezuela of 40 Russian choppers and
100,000 AK-47 rifles. Colombian congressmen fear that the guerrilla
capitalizes on the deal to take possession of outdated equipment,
AFP reported.
Additionally, Venezuela announced the procurement of Brazilian
planes and reached an agreement with Spain to buy four patrol
boats, four corvettes and ten C-295 transportation planes.
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