President Hugo Chávez warned that "as long as imperialism exists and threatens to annihilate entire peoples and impose their views, we have to open up our plant to manufacture rifles, buy (Russian-made) Sukhoi warplanes and other military equipment."

At the closing ceremony of the first meeting of Venezuelan and Russian businesspeople, in the Presidential Palace of Miraflores, Caracas, Chávez stressed that bilateral technical military cooperation is moving forward at a steady pace.

"We have received messages from Latin American, Caribbean and even African countries asking about the production capacity of our rifle manufacturing plant. My dear Russian friends, I am sure you will agree, this is a platform for integration in other fields."

Chávez once again insisted that his US counterpart George W. Bush "smells sulfur. Nobody should have doubts about it."