Chavez details arms build-up

Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, has announced details of an arms build-up which he says will make the South American nation "invulnerable" to any attack.

He said the centrepiece of the programme would be a sophisticated air-defence system that could shoot down enemy aircraft and rockets from a distance of over 200km.

"We're going to have a tremendous air-defense system, and with with missiles capable of reaching 200 kilometers," Chavez said during a televised speech on Friday at a military academy in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital.

"[It] will convert Venezuela into a nation truly invulnerable to any external threat, invulnerable to any plan of aggression."

He said oil-rich Venezuela would also open factories to product rifles, centres to train jet fighter pilots and facilities to upgrade the Venezuelan airforce.

Chavez has often spoken of his aim to upgrade the country's defence systems but Friday's speech was the first time he has done so with any specific detail.

'Self-defence'

Chavez said Venezuela's arms build-up did not pose a threat to regional stability as Washington has suggested, but said that the country was simply modernising its military after years of neglect.

"They are necessary investments. We're not going to attack anybody," he said.

Chavez announced spending of more than $561 million for factories to build automatic AK-103 assault rifles, munitions, and detonators.