Reply #24: Perhaps, as a country with oil resources in the ground, he is paranoid...

[clixtox]

about the intentions of the USA. I doubt anybody could blame him, or the Venezuelans, for being very concerned about the USA now, and going forward.

Any prudent leader of a country floating on oil, after the unmistakeable lesson offered by our ongoing war crimes & plundering in Iraq, has to ramp up their defensive capabilities to, hopefully, deter all potential thieving aggressors.

When that potential enemy, the USA, (Us, you and me!), has a historical record of dispicable war crimes and genocide, it has to expend limited resources, hopefully as prudently as possible.

The USA has a history of literally bankrupting their rivals to maintain their/our empire. That is one of our few successful strategies in our undeclared wars against our empires rivals, dissidents and insurgents.