El Pais reports that the Spanish government announced on Friday that an agency within its foreign ministry which regulates the exporting of defense gear had suspended the sale and distribution of anti-riot gear to Venezuela in a measure. Spain is an important exporter of defense equipment for Venezuela; last year, its government authorized the sale to Venezuela of some 2.6 million euros (or $3.5 million) worth of riot-control gear, including €16,000 ($21,900) in non-lethal pyrotechnic materials. The decision from the agency to bring a temporary halt to sales came on March 6, but was not made public until today.
As El Universal notes, the halt marks the first official action by a foreign government since protests began in February and comes as some 30 Spanish citizens have been reported detained across Venezuela in connection with the disturbances. At least 39 people in total have died, nearly 600 have been injured and thousands have been detained. The government of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy last took similar action in July 2013 after a coup in Egypt ousted Mohamed Morsi from power.
Protestors have noted that the tear-gas canisters being used by the government to disperse and halt crowds has born the tag “Hecho en Brasil”, or “Made in Brazil”. An extended report from Ultimas Noticias found that 143 tons of tear gas ($6.5 million worth) had been purchased by Venezuela from a Brazilian vendor of non-lethal arms between 2008-2011.
The news comes just days after a Russian military official said during a Chilean aeronautical festival that Russia is seeking to increase sales of arms to Venezuela in addition to other Latin American countries like Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia, according to El Nacional. Most of what Russia sells (or exchanges for petroleum) consists of aircraft and missiles, not anti-riot gear: between 2006 and 2013, for example, Venezuela received 1000 anti-tank missiles, 2000 portable air-defense systems, 36 helicopters, and 450 surface-air missiles, among other heavy-duty arms.
On Monday, Amnesty International called for Venezuela’s government to broaden efforts to guarantee arms-control in the country due to a “high number of illegal arms in circulation, many of them in the hands of pro-government armed groups”, according to El Universal.
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