Report: U.S. To Engage In Joint Military Training Exercises With Venezuela and Nicaragua

Honduran blogger, Gerardo Paredes tipped me to this story in a Nicaraguan newspaper, La Prensa, today:

Translated:

The Parliament today authorized the entrance of troops, ships and airships of the Armed Forces of the United States and Venezuela, to participate in an interchange of experience in this country with humanitarian aims, informed legislative sources today. The entrance of the American and Venezuelan military was proposed by the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, with character urgent, and approved today in the plenary session by 63 of the 92 deputies before the National Assembly, needed the president the Legislative one, the sandinista René Núñez.

The Congress authorized the entrance of the 10 military of the special forces of the United States to participate in a joint training with the commando of special operations of the Army of Nicaragua of the 1 of October to the 31 of next December, indicated by its side the first secretary of the Assembly, the liberal Navarrese Wilfredo opponent. Also it ratified the entrance of ship USWEST of the Navy of the United States to participate in an interchange of training with personnel of the Naval Force of the Army, from the 5 to the 30 of next November, indicated. Also, it authorized the entrance of the five military of the naval school of the United States to participate in a training interchange. The Parliament also authorized the entrance, of rotating form, of the 30 military, ships and airships of the Air Force of the Army of Venezuela to participate in an exercise of training interchange in operations of humanitarian aid with personnel of the Army of Nicaragua of the 1 of November from 2009 to the 10 of April of 2010.

Is it standard procedure for the U.S. military to conduct military operations in countries that are hostile to the United States? Is this an ominous sign for Honduras, and Columbia?

Someone with military knowledge please clue me in.

Chavez recently boasted of the Russian missiles it has procured from Russia:

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez has announced that the country will soon take delivery of Russian missiles with a range of 300km (185 miles).

Returning from a 10-day tour of Africa, Asia and Europe, including Russia, Mr Chavez is also planning to buy Russian T-72 and T-90 tanks.

“Soon some little rockets are going to be arriving… and they don’t fail,” he announced at the presidential palace.

***

Venezuela is involved in a long-running diplomatic stand-off with neighbouring Colombia, over the latter’s plans to allow US troops greater access to its military bases.

A year ago,  September 2008, Moscow sent ships to the Caribbean to engage in joint exercises with the Venezuelan Navy, which was seen as “one of Russia’s most provocative exercises in the Western Hemisphere since the Soviet Union supported Marxist guerrillas in Nicaragua and El Salvador”.

In his weekly television address, President Chavez of Venezuela said: “Russia’s naval fleet is welcome here. If it’s possible, we’ll stage an exercise in our Caribbean waters.” Anticipating criticism from Washington, he taunted his northern neighbor, saying, “Go ahead and squeal, Yankees.”

Despite Mr. Chavez’s tough rhetoric, the Venezuelan leader has suffered some setbacks in the last year, among them the weakening of the FARC, the Colombian Marxist rebel group that Mr. Chavez has supported.

Nonetheless, the Venezuelan government, flush with cash from its petroleum exports, has indicated that it is seeking to purchase Russian submarines.

The announcement of the military exercises comes as the Bush administration is navigating its response to Russia’s invasion of Georgia, a former Soviet republic that hosts a small American military base.

Over the weekend, Vice President Cheney had particularly harsh words for Russia, calling the recent invasion an “affront to the standards of the civilized world.”

Now we’re conducting military exercises with Chavez and Ortega? Like Obama said in his UN speech, we’re forming new coalitions…

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UPDATE:

A friend who is former Air Force  emails:

my own prelim assessment is, yes, the US does participate in some exercises with just about all the countries of the S. Hemisphere. in fact we just finished PANAMAX 2009 – which is our annual protect-the-canal ex with about 21 countries. very interestingly, this year’s total was officially 20. guess who was uninvited?  and here is a curious slam on Honduras from the extremely Leftist COHA group:

http://www.coha.org/panamax-2009-and-honduras-did-they-or-didnt-they-attend-the-annual-war-games/

the more ominous aspect is that the Nicaraguan press release (i assume its from Nic?) mentions two separate things:  first there will be 10 SF ops allowed in (thats an A-team!) for “training” ahead of an unknown US navy ship later (there is no “USWEST” ship) during the joint Venezuelan “humanitarian” training ex.  THAT is what is very bad mojo.

MORE:

My source says responses to his request for opinions in the military community are mostly of the “nothing to see here move along”  variety.

However  his own opinion is that this might be a sort of “gunboat diplomacy against Honduras”.

I don’t know. Having no background with the military, myself, it seemed strange that we would be conducting military exercises with anti-American countries.