Mark Kirk: “this weekend Venezuela's defense minister proudly announced the impending arrival of a large shipment of Russian arms.…”

“this weekend Venezuela's defense minister proudly announced the impending arrival of a large shipment of Russian arms. For what? Who is Venezuela planning to fight? General Garcia announced his purchase of 40 MI-17, MI-26, and MI-35 military helicopters, including the MI-26, the world's largest helicopter which comes heavily armed and is intended, in General Garcia's words, ``to be deployed on Venezuela's border with Colombia.'' On top of this, Venezuela is expecting the arrival of over 100,000 new Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles. To shoot whom? Without an insurgency and no neighbor threatening her border, who are these weapons to be aimed at? Venezuela has millions of poor people; and they believe Venezuela's oil should be used to fight poverty, not Colombia. Our allies and the Organization of American States have the lead in diplomacy to keep peace in our hemisphere. It sounds like they should call an urgent meeting of the OAS to discuss whom Venezuela plans to shoot at. ____________________”