Army Commander General Raúl Baduel ensured that Venezuelan "military purchases are eminently defensive, and in no case we are purchasing any system with an offensive spirit."

He was responding to criticisms against Hugo Chávez Government's move to buy weaponry and some claims that the Venezuelan State is engaged in an arms race.

He labeled as "extreme cynicism" the fact that such countries -which he called "corporate predators"- purport to brand Venezuela as an outlaw State, calling it a threat for the region.
 
"Our country owns colossal natural resources and perhaps the largest fossil energy reserve around the world. Therefore, it would illusory not to notice that a number of multinationals -the so-called corporate predators- are controlling the elites that assume the right to interfere anywhere in the world based on any excuse, as in Iraq, for example."

When asked if he meant the United States, he replied: "I mean country coalitions that have a capacity to deploy military power in the world. You can do any inferences you want. I will not name a particular country."