Venezuelan defense spending

The NYT has an article on Venezuela’s military spending and arms build up (which I’ve briefly noted before) and it does a good job of explaining the views of both proponents and opponents. Even for Chávez supporters, however, it is hard to imagine anything positive about the massive amounts being spent.

• it is money that could be spent on economic development

• if the U.S. wanted to oust Chávez, it would try to do so internally and not by invasion, so a deterrence force is pointless

• it could easily spark a regional arms race (at least to some degree, and any degree is bad)

• arguing that Venezuela spends proportionately less than the U.S. or other countries is not a good rationale (it is similar to the “you can’t criticize Chávez because what Bush does is worse” argument)

• since the National Assembly is not being consulted, it is another example of the erosion of Venezuelan democratic institutions