Venezuela to Purchase Russian Subs

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is in final negotiations with Moscow to acquire up to nine submarines, Kommersant reported Thursday. The deal means the largest submarine fleet in South America for Venezuela, probably $3 billion for Russia, and an international insult for Washington.

Snubbing the U.S. is no new phenomenon for Chavez. Since coming to power in 1999, the Marxist leader has grown increasingly bold. In recent months, he has muscled out American oil companies and called the American administration imperial, genocidal, fascist and other epithets less fit to print.

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