Venezuela has spent more than four billion dollars on arms purchase that include rifles, ships, helicopters and planes in the past two years. This transforms the country into a large weapons buyer, leaving behind big purchasers such as Iran and Pakistan.

The New York Times newspaper made public this report on February 25, claiming that this country is the Latin America's largest weapons buyer.

"The United States has tried to paralyze our air power," General Alberto Muller Rojas told the US newspaper, explaining the reasons behind president Hugo Chávez' decision to buy Russian Sukoy planes and reminding a ban imposed by Washington preventing Venezuelan Armed Forces from acquiring replacement parts for American F-16s

Asked about the reasons for such huge arms purchases, Muller said:
"We are feeling threatened and like any sovereign nation we are taking steps to strengthen our territorial defense."

The Mexican newspaper La Jornada quoted the US daily as saying that concern has increased among the neighbor countries that Venezuela's arms purchases could break regional power balances and lead to a new illicit arms trade across the porous borders of the nation.