Russia has hedged its lead as the most prolific arms dealer in the world  (yes, even more than the US) with a recent agreement with Venezuela.

 Oil-rich Venezuela is a major purchaser of Russian weapons and hardware. In 2005-2006, Venezuela ordered weaponry from Russia worth $3.4 billion, including 24 Su-30MK2V Flanker fighters, Tor-M1 air defense missile systems, Mi-17B multi-role helicopters, Mi-35 Hind E attack helicopters and Mi-26 Halo heavy transport helicopters.

Russia has repeatedly stated that it will actively participate in the modernization of the Venezuelan armed forces until 2013.

Kommersant said negotiations were underway on the purchase of 10 Il-76 Candid military transport planes and two Il-78-MK aerial tankers for the Venezuelan Air Force. The contract will be worth a total of $600 million.

Deliveries will be completed next year. The aircraft will replace six outdated American Lockheed C-130H Hercules transport planes and two Boeing 707-320C aerial tankers.

Venezuela and Russia have also agreed on the purchase of four Kilo-class Project 636 diesel submarines. The terms of the deal, estimated at $1.2 billion, were negotiated late last year.

The Project 636 submarine is designed for anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface-ship warfare, and also for general reconnaissance and patrol missions. It is considered to be one of the quietest diesel submarines in the world.

The strategic problems having (very quiet) Venezuelan submarines patrolling the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans should not be overlooked. To me, this is akin to Russia placing strategic missiles on Cuba.

The governments of Ecuador and Venezuela have recalled their ambassadors from Columbia and have moved troops to the border in a clear display of anger over reported incidents of Columbian military attacking terrorists inside Ecuador’s border.

In a televised address, Correa called a raid by Colombian national police and air force one day earlier a “massacre” that killed civilians.

The strike at dawn Saturday killed two leading figures in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a Marxist movement that has fought a guerrilla war against the country’s government for some 40 years. One of the dead was FARC’s second-in-command, Luis Edgar Devia Silva, known as “Raul Reyes.”

The United States is in a sticky situation here, as Columbia is an ally. But this sounds very much like Venezuela and Ecuador are supporting the FARC terrorists and are trying very hard to get on the “Axis of Evil” list.

We know Chavez is a leftist fascist and Correa seems to be a great understudy - even for a graduate of the University of Illinois Urbana.

UPDATE: Documents reportedly found in a FARC camp in Ecuador implicate Correa.

BOGOTA, March 2 (Reuters) - Colombia said on Sunday documents found in a camp in Ecuador where Colombian troops killed a top guerrilla boss showed ties between the FARC rebels and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, including contacts about political proposals and local military commanders.

FARC rebel commander Raul Reyes was killed inside Ecuador in an army operation that has fueled tensions between Washington ally Colombia and neighbors Venezuela and Ecuador, where leftist leaders are fiercely opposed to U.S. proposals. Police Commander Gen. Oscar Naranjo said documents found in computers belonging to Reyes showed contacts between a Correa government minister, Gustavo Larrea, and the FARC commander to discuss political proposals and projects on the frontier. “The questions raised by these documents need concrete answers,” Naranjo said. “What is the state of relations between Ecuador’s government and a terrorist group like the FARC.”

UPDATE 2: Looks like those computer files Columbia found in Ecuador, after killing the FARC chief, don’t put Hugo Chavez in very good light either.

March 3 (Bloomberg) — Colombia’s police chief Oscar Naranjo said documents from the computer of a guerrilla leader killed last weekend in Ecuador show links to Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez.

The documents on the computer of Raul Reyes, the second in command of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, indicate that Venezuela provided the guerrillas with at least $300 million and would help Chavez in the event of a U.S. attack on Venezuela.

So, for all you Hugo-lovers out there, it appears at least that your boy is a sponsor of terrorism.

UPDATE 3: Did you see the part where FARC was trying to buy 110 lbs of uranium?