US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has taken issue with Venezuela over procurement of weapons, and is certain that neighboring countries are concerned about the possibility of these arms ending in the hands of leftwing guerrillas.

Asked if the procurement of weapons by Venezuela was beyond the needs to streamline the arm forces, Rumsfeld answered, "I know of nobody threatening Venezuela. Certainly, nobody."

Rumsfeld met with reporters outside the meeting of Defense Ministers of the Americas held in Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua. His Venezuelan counterpart, General Raúl Isaías Baduel, is also attending the event, AFP quoted.

Baduel has denied that the purchase by Venezuela of Russian helicopters equipped with weapons, fighter direction aircraft and rifles puts hemispheric security in jeopardy.