Venezuela has spent 4.3 BILLION DOLLARS on weapons since 2005

The Growing Terrorism Challenges From Latin America
by Douglas Farah

Published on February 18th, 2007

Latin America is often near the bottom of U.S counter-terrorism priorities. No terrorist attacks against the United States have originated from there or been carried out by Latin American nationals. Yet there are several reasons that recent trends in Latin America pose significant threats to the United States.

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The U.S. Southern Command, with operational responsibility for Latin America and the Caribbean, defined the threat as follows:

The stability and prosperity of the SOUTHCOM AOR [Area of Responsibility] are threatened by transnational terrorism, narco-terrorism, illicit trafficking, forgery and money laundering, kidnapping, urban gangs, radical movements, natural disasters and mass migration…
We have detected a number of Islamic Radical Group facilitators that continue to participate in fundraising and logistical support activities such as money laundering, document forgery, and illicit trafficking. Proceeds from these activities are supporting worldwide terrorist activities. Not only do these activities serve to support Islamic terrorist groups in the Middle East, these same activities performed by other groups make up the greater criminal network so prominent in the AOR. Illicit activities, facilitated by the AOR's permissive environment, are the backbone for criminal entities like urban gangs, narco-terrorists, Islamic terrorists, and worldwide organized crime.[1]

The Challenge To States
Among the most obvious threats for the spread of radical Islam is the growing personal tie between Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, who have held at least three face-to-face meetings in the past six months, and address each other as "brother." The growing economic ties between the two nations can be seen in the dozens of economic agreements the two leaders have signed in that time, and the mutual support for cutting OPEC’s oil production, which is significant given that the two countries are OPEC’s second and fourth largest oil producers, respectively.[2]
The friendship can bring some modest commercial and political gains, but it is fundamentally premised on both leaders’ stated enmity toward the United States.

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Together Venezuela and Iran produce some 5 million barrels of oil a day. While half of Venezuela’s 2.2 million barrels a day is destined to the U.S. market (representing almost 10 percent of 13.2 million barrels a day the United States imports), Iran does not export any oil directly the United States. However, Iran’s 2.6 million barrels a day of production, if diminished, would greatly affect the global petroleum market.[5] Earlier this year the two nations agreed to jointly construct oil refineries in Indonesia, Syria and Venezuela, which would further increase their joint economic clout in the worldwide petroleum market.[6] This not only gives the two nations economic leverage in the United States, but the financial wherewithal to finance armed groups that could directly attack the United States.
Iran is the primary sponsor of Hezbollah, the predominant Shiite Muslim militia based in Lebanon that has an extensive presence in Latin America and has carried out numerous attacks against U.S. and Latin American targets. In Venezuela, Chavez has allowed senior officials of the FARC[7], the largest and oldest insurgency in the hemisphere, to operate with impunity and allowed its border area with Colombia to be used as "a safe area to rest, transship drugs and arms, and procure logistical supplies."[8] The potential joining of these two groups against a common enemy—the United States—under the auspices of two states that already have shown a willingness to sponsor armed movements, should be of serious concern.

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Venezuela is also using its oil wealth for an arms build-up that is unprecedented in recent history and threatens to destabilize the region.

The most recent acquisition by the Chavez government includes the purchase of 100,000 new AK-103 assault rifles from Russia, along with the license to build a Kalashnikov factory in Venezuela. Chavez has also been buying naval patrol vessels from Spain, at least 15 combat helicopters from Russia, and is negotiating to buy Sukhoi-30 fighter jets and Tor- M1 surface to air missile systems from Russia.
All told, Venezuela has spent some $4.3 billion on weapons since 2005, placing it ahead of China ($3.4 billion); Pakistan ($3 billion); and Iran ($1.7 billion), according to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).[9] Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, director of the DIA, said Venezuela’s agenda was to "neutralize U.S influence" in Latin America and predicted the buying spree would continue in 2007.[10]

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http://www.strategycenter.net/research/pubID.149/pub_detail.asp