[USA accounts for 45% of all the world's military spending. Maybe Chavez is worried about being attacked by USA as he (Chavez) is not doing what the Zionist state tell them to do-ed]

MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld passed on an offer of Venezuelan tobacco, but tried to smoke out the government of President Hugo Chavez on the country’s recent military buildup.

“I don’t know of anyone threatening Venezuela, anyone in this hemisphere,” said Rumsfeld, who is attending a meeting here of Western hemisphere military leaders — many of them concerned about the weapons, jets and helicopters Chavez is buying.

Other countries in the region are worried that the weapons could end up in the hands of terrorists, Rumsfeld told reporters Monday, adding, “I can understand neighbors being concerned.”

U.S. Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock, chief of U.S. Southern Command, called the accusation “mindless” and “way over the top.” But he also agreed that Venezuela’s recent deal to buy roughly $3 billion worth of arms from Russia — including rifles, jet fighters and helicopters — is triggering “more concern from more countries.”

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