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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Chavez: Too Crazy For The French |
| 2006-03-13 |
| French President Jacques Chirac has officially rejected Venezuela's bid to buy two Scorpone-Class diesel submarines. While France has sold military equipment to Venezuela over the years, sales have been modest (averaging no more than $1 million annually). The submarine deal would have involved serious money (a billion dollars or more), but the French rejected it for several reasons. Chirac is trying to rebuild relations with the U.S., but there's also serious concern about Venezuela's unstable President Hugo Chavez. French investments in Venezuela have been among those "foreign" interests threatened with "nationalization" by the Chavez regime. In addition, Chavez' barely veiled threats against the Netherlands West Indies and Guyana makes senior French diplomatic and military leaders concerned about his ambitions in the Caribbean. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #4 Wow, Joseph. You keep track of Phrench sub classes? |
| Posted by: Brett 2006-03-13 22:51 |
| #3 SCORPONE, or SCORPENE, sub class - everything I've seen on the Web says SCORPENE. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-03-13 22:35 |
| #2 Chavez can probably get a better deal in Bogota anyway. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/915059.stm |
| Posted by: Darrell 2006-03-13 22:06 |
| #1 French investments in Venezuela ... threatened with "nationalization" Bingo! |
| Posted by: DMFD 2006-03-13 21:37 |