In a display of maneuverability and technical skills, the Venezuelan Air Force Sunday presented to the country the first two Sukhoi-30 warplanes it purchased from Russia and which are to activate the 13th Fighter Air Group, based in Barcelona, eastern Anzoátegui state.

During the commemoration of the 86th anniversary of the Venezuelan Aviation, the Libertador Air Base, in central Aragua state, was the setting for the grayish green aircraft -bearing the Venezuelan flag on their right wings- to fly in formation.

Also taking part in the parade were the loyal US-made F-16s (surpassing 45,000 flight hours), the F-5s, the Bronco OV-10s, Hercules, Mirage 50s, among others.

President Hugo Chávez presided over the event, and claimed that "the flight of the Sukhois, steered by our pilots, is the flight of the sovereignty of the peoples."

In his 25-minute speech, Chávez reminded that "the US empire has tried to impose a world blockade on Venezuela to prevent us from owning the minimum weapons we require for our self-defense."

"Let us get onboard these Sukhois and fly with our moral to the infinite, with the moral of the new fatherland, the socialist moral, the revolutionary moral, to give more consistency to the Simón Bolívar project, the new era that is beginning following the overwhelming, unprecedented victory of last Sunday! (December 3rd, when he was re-elected to serve a second six-year term in office)."