Spain insists Venezuela plane deal must go ahead despite US block

By Marie-Noelle Valles
AFP
MADRID
Petroleumworld.com 01 16 06

Spain protested on Friday that its sale of 12 military planes to Venezuela must go ahead despite being blocked by the United States because of Washington's concerns about President Hugo Chavez.

The US veto to the deal is the latest move in a period of stormy relations between Spain and the United States.

The number two in the Spanish government, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, told a press conference: "The Bush administration decided to refuse licenses for planes that Spain sold to Venezuela and it did so for reasons that the Spanish government does not share.

"That said, the contracts were signed with another country, Venezuela, and must be respected."

The US ambassador to Spain, Eduardo Aguirre, had informed Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos on Thursday of Washington's decision to refuse a license for the deal.

A ministry spokesman said the US decision was "intended to block this commercial contract involving planes equipped with American parts".

The spokesman denied Washington was acting politically in halting the two-billion-dollar deal for the transport and surveillance planes, but a statement from the US embassy in Madrid indicated otherwise.

"Despite being democratically elected, the government of President Hugo Chavez has systematically undermined democratic institutions, pressured and harassed independent media and the political opposition, and grown progressively more autocratic and anti-democratic," it charged.

"In a region in need of political stability, the Venezuelan government's actions and frequent statements contribute to regional instability," the embassy added.

"This proposed sale of air platforms has the potential to complicate the situation."

The United States voiced objections to the deal when it was signed in November, saying it was concerned about US technology being sold to the oil-rich South American state.

Chavez has repeatedly lashed out at the United States, accusing it of trying to oust him from office or even assassinate him.

His fiery populism and friendship with Cuban leader Fidel Castro annoys Washington.

Caracas says the planes are needed to combat drug smuggling, but the US administration fears materiel sold to the Chavez administration could be used to arm Colombian rebels.

Spanish Defense Minister Jose Bono has defended the deal with Venezuela, saying that the materiel was for solely peaceful purposes and that Madrid had fulfilled European Union and NATO regulations.

The deal signed with EADS-CASA, the Spanish subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), includes 10 C-295 transport planes and two CN-235 marine surveillance and transport planes, and eight military patrol boats.

An EADS-CASA spokesman said it would not comment because of the political nature of the case.

The company has acknowledged that the only way to keep the deal alive would be to replace the US technology in the planes with European parts.

That would delay the delivery of Venezuela's purchase and add considerable cost.

In a similar case, Chavez alleged Tuesday that the United States was blocking the sale of airplanes to Venezuela by the Brazilian company Embraer because they contain US technology.

The US embassy asserted Thursday that the decision to bar the Spanish planes "would not prejudice consideration of potential future requests by EADS/Casa" nor did Washington expect it to "adversely affect the excellent relations we have with the Government of Spain."

However, those relations have experienced several hiccups since the socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero came to power in April 2004 and promptly withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq.

Zapatero had said in November that he saw no problem with the United States over the sale of the planes.

AFP 01/15/06

Copyright © 2006 AFP. All rights reserved

 

 

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