Guys, may I suggest a visit to laahs.com?

Once there, go to the forum; there is a very active thread with many Latin American T-33 photos.

Saludos,

Tulio

For a “crazy” and “old idiot” Castro has managed to survive attempts on his life, a failed invasion, attacks on his country, a 40 plus year embargo, and he keeps on ticking . . . his latest is, reportedly, an alliance with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez . . . Venezuela sends 90,000 barrels of oil a day to Cuba, Cuba sends doctors, teachers and sports trainers to Venezuela.

How close was it back in the day? Well, I remember that we went to bed expecting the end of the world, that’s how close it was.

A friend of mine, with Special Forces said that they were in Key West, all ready to jump into Cuba, with the nuclear back-pack bombs.

Saludos,

Tulio

How about:

F/A-35A Canned Whoopass?

😀 😀 😀

Saludos,

Tulio

Junipergoth:

You should read the book “The Search for Point Zero” (I don’t recall the author’s name); it will give you a lot of information, but it will also leave you with a lot of very interesting questions.

Saludos,

Tulio

As recently as yesterday (14Feb05) the newspaper U.S.A. Today, had an article on the clashes between the government of the U.S.A. and that of Mr. Chavez over the supply of spare parts for the Venezuelan AF’s F-16s.

As a result of this clash, one of the means used to apply pressure so his government will abide by the wishes of the U.S.A. is to withhold or to delay the delivery of spares for his country’s aircraft and other military and economic measures, intended to show the displeasure of Washington to his policies and politics.

As a result, the article states that Venezuela has agreed to purchase 100,000 automatic rifles and 40 military helicopters from Russia, and it is studying whether to buy Russian Mig-29s, to replace its F-16s.

Chavez stated that they are going to build Tucanos under license and will is near closing a deal for the purchasing of Brazilian-built military jets (AMXs?).

Threatening to buy weapons from a different supplier is nothing new in our countries. When the USA applied a similar embargo against Guatemala in 1953-54, Guatemala sought weapons from the Soviet Union, and this only helped to justify an invasion that deposed the legitimate government of Guatemala, and in the end caused a 36 year long civilian conflict that brought death and destruction, and has to this day, ruined the economy and welfare of most Guatemalans.

I doubt that the U.S.A. would invade Venezuela nowadays, so they resort to applying pressure like the delaying on the delivery of spares, but in the end, Venezuela makes enough money from the sale of their oil, and this will allow them to shop wherever they please.

Whether Mr. Chavez is a dictator or not, I cannot tell. If the example of Guatemala has shown us anything, it is that the U.S.A. will depose a “populist” government (accusing them in 1954 of being communists, nowadays the buzzword would be either narco-traffickers or terrorists) but the goal would be the same: To install in Venezuela, a government that is amenable to the interests of the U.S.A., without really caring for the people and their most basic needs.

Saludos,

Tulio

costa rica has no form of military whatsoever… very refreshing indeed

This is an oft repeated statement, that bears no truth in real life.

Although they do not oficially have an army (Banned by their Constitution), Costa Ricans have a police force that is equipped with automatic weapons, has even machine guns, mortars, light artillery and patrol boats and military aircraft (transports, and they had a few Cessna O-2s), and they also have military sounding ranks.

Quacks like a duck, walks like a duck . . .

Saludos,

Tulio

Two More from Guatemala

Guatemala has not operated a fighter since the F-51 Mustangs were withdrawn from service in the early 1970s.

The Cessna A-37B has remained to this day, the battlewagon of the service, with the PC-7 also fulfilling an important CAS/COIN/ Advanced Trainer role.

I shot the photo of the A-37B in December of 1978, while the photo of the PC-7 was shot also by yours truly, in December of 2001.

Of interest, the use of armed PC-7s by Guatemala caused a diplomatic row with Switzerland, since they had sold the PC-7s as unarmed trainers. Guatemala was also close to obtain a number of Siai-Marchetti SF-260s (I have a couple of slides of two of them in Guatemalan AF colors) but were never delivered because of an Italian Government embargo on the deal due to accussations of human rights abuses in Guatemala.

Saludos,

Tulio