Colombia the New Venezuela// Bogota ready to buy Russian arms
Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos will visit Russia at the beginning of next month. It will be the first visit on that level in the history of the countries’ relations. Kommersant has learned that the main topic of talks with the South American guest will be Russia’s military-technical cooperation with Venezuela. Worried about the Hugo Chavez regime’s military buildup, Colombia wants to maintain a balance of power. For that purpose, it is prepared to buy Russian weapons. In exchange, Bogota hopes to convince Moscow to reduce arms supplies to Venezuela.
The Colombian Negotiator
Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos himself confirmed his upcoming trip to Moscow for Kommersant. He said that he personally contacted Russian leaders to ask to visit. “It is time for our countries to intensify relations,” he said. “There is a lot we can do together.” The Russian Foreign Ministry also confirmed Santos’ visit. His visit will be the first on such a high level between the two countries. Besides Moscow, he will visit Kazan and St. Petersburg, where he will speak at the International Economic Forum on the invitation of Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina. The length of the visit is an indication of the importance Bogota places on it. He will stay for ten days, from June 1 through 11. “I don’t spend that long in many places,” he acknowledged to Kommersant.
The importance of the visitor also confirms the importance of the visit. The 46-year-old Santos is one of Colombia’s most influential politicians and is the likely successor to President Alvaro Uribe. He is a talented and intellectual diplomat and a natural orator, who came to politics through journalism. Don Francisco belongs to the powerful Santos clan, which owns El Tiempo, the country’s leading publisher. In the 1980s, Santos was the editor-in-chief of El Tiempo newspaper and wrote a column devoted to the kidnappings and murders committed by the drug mafia. In 1990, he shared the fate of those he wrote about when drug kingpin Pablo Escobar kidnapped him. His eight-month ordeal was described by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in his book News of a Kidnapping. After his release, Santos taught at Harvard for two years, then returned to his homeland to found the Free Country Foundation. He was a vice presidential candidate in 2002 on the ballot with Uribe. They received 53 percent of the vote, and were reelected in 2006 with 62 percent.
Santos now managed key political projects, among them the battle against kidnapping and corruption and his is likely to become the next president of Colombia in 2010. He is considered Bogota’s chief diplomatic specialist in delicate situations. That is what is visit to Moscow seems to be.
An Arms Proposal
Colombia’s unexpectedly ardent desire to establish close relations with Russia has an unseen aspect. Otherwise Bogota would have sought the contracts its needs not across the ocean, but with the United States, its closest ally and patron. Kommersant has learned that Santos will try to convince Moscow to amend its Latin American policy, especially in arms sales. The exceptionally high level of military-technical cooperation between Moscow and Caracas seems to have pushed Colombia to take action. Relations between Colombia and Venezuela have never been warm and they deteriorated after fiery anti-American Hugo Chavez came to power in Venezuela in 1999. Uribe is one of Washington’s most loyal allies in Latin America. Recently, relations between Colombia and Venezuela have been close to the breaking point lately. Bogota has accused Chavez of supporting FARC. Colombian intelligence received documentary confirmation of that when they obtained the notebook computer of Raul Reyes, the second-in-command in FARC, which was killed in Ecuador. In response, Chavez said that Colombia carries out political orders from the U.S. and provokes American military intervention in the region.
Bogota feels that it is the multibillion-dollar arms shipments from Russia that give Chavez his self-assurance in his conflict with Colombia. In the last three years, Venezuela has bought 24 Su-30MK2V planes, Tor-M1 air defense systems, 31 Mi-type helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov machineguns. The last item is of particular concern to Colombia. The Venezuelan Army clearly has no need of such a high quantity of machineguns. Bogota suspects that Chavez is generously sharing his machineguns with FARC rebels. That is why Santos’ mission is to make it clear to the Russian leadership that thoughtless arming of Venezuela threatens to the destabilization of the region.
Colombia understands that, in spite of Chavez’s anti-American rhetoric, relations between Russia and Venezuela have no ideological base, rather they are based on commercial interests. In that connection, Bogota is ready to offer the Russian military-industrial complex its own market. Kommersant has learned that Colombia is ready to obtain fighter and transport helicopters, like those Bogota already purchased once, and it is looking at Sukhoi jet fighters and armored vehicles. In addition, Bogota has shown interest in Russian radar for air traffic control, territorial monitoring systems and night vision equipment. Konstantin Makienko, an expert at the Center for the Analysis of Strategy and Technology, suggested that Russia has a good chance of selling Colombia at least the helicopters and armored vehicles, which sell well in Latin America.
Doubts about Moscow
Bogota’s commercial proposal apparently is not limited to a military order. Santos told Kommersant that he will take part in an investment forum called “Colombia, A Mine of Opportunity” in Moscow. There, Santos is counting on talks with the heads of leading Russian energy companies, such as LUKOIL, Rosneft and Gazprom. Lukoil Overseas has been active in Colombia since 2002 and is exploring the Llanos Basin, one fot he country’s largest oil and gas basins, jointly with the Colombian company Ecopetrol. LUKOIL confirmed yesterday that talks between its executives and Santos were likely. Rosneft and Gazprom declined to confirm any negotiations with Colombia.
In addition to the energy talks, Kommersant has learned that Santos intends to discuss the modernization of Colombian railroads with Russian Railways president Vladimir Yakunin. “Colombia is increasing its coal and oil production, and the transportation system has to be improved to facilitate its movement,” Colombian Ambassador to Russia Diego Tobon said. Spokesmen for Russian Railways were unable to confirm the talks with the Colombian vice president.
Experts say that Russia would profit from Colombia’s proposals. “Russia has an interest in having a multifaceted and pragmatic policy in Latin America, so Russia is not likely to lay stress on a single country there,” commented Vladimir Davydov, director of the Russian Academy of Science’s Latin American Institute. “I think Russia will respond positively to Colombia’s proposal. There is potential for cooperation with that country and it is considerable.” However, it looks as though Moscow will have to heed Bogota’s request to ease away from its intense military technical cooperation with Col. Chavez. It is uncertain whether Russia is prepared to do that. A source in the Russian military-industrial complex told Kommersant yesterday that “the question is not commercial, it is political. It will be decided on the highest level.”
Miguel Palacio, Bogota; Alexander Gabuev
All the Article in Russian as of May 27, 2008
Source
http://www.kommersant.com/p896309/arms_sales_Colombia/
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