Venezuela is preparing to receive Russian fleet
07:27 PM Caracas .- Venezuela is being organized to meet the planned Russian naval forces conduct military exercises with the Venezuelan Navy in the Caribbean Sea, said on Saturday President Hugo Chávez.

The military exercises are planned for late November, after completing the election of governors and mayors, in which Chavez hopes to achieve a majority and that also coincide with a visit to Venezuela of the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, noted Reuters.

"We are preparing ourselves to receive the Russian fleet which is we do maneuvers in the Caribbean," Chavez said in an act of election campaign in the central state of Carabobo.

The president highlighted the recent visit to Caracas by the Secretary of Defense Council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Patrushev, adding that the country will soon come another Russian delegation.

Patrushev said the day before, after finishing the meeting with the Venezuelan president, that the joint military exercises between Russia and Venezuela are not directed against any country, but stressed that increase the security between the two nations.

U.S. and Colombia have expressed concern about the exercises, the first taking place in the region since the Cold War, and also fear for the advancement of relations between the governments of Caracas and Moscow.

For its part, Venezuela claims that Russia is a friendly nation.

The head of the Strategic Operational Command of Caracas, Gen. Jesus Gonzalez Gonzalez said this week that they expect to arrive in the country four ships of the Russian Federation, but did not specify the exact date of the arrival of the units.

Venezuela has become one of the largest buyers of Russian military equipment.