Caracas: Russia gave Venezuela a $4 billion (Dh14.71 billion) credit to buy weapons when President Hugo Chavez visited Moscow last month, adding to billions the socialist leader has already spent on re-equipping the army.

Venezuela and Russia have forged deep ties in energy and defence, with Russian investment flowing into the Opec member's oil fields at the same time as Chavez has become one of Moscow's most important weapons customers.

Washington views with suspicion Chavez's purchases of tanks, fighter jets and air defence systems in the last few years but the soldier-turned-president says he is merely modernising Venezuela's ageing kit.

"We were in Russia not long ago and the Russian government has now given us a $4 billion credit to help us with defence equipment," Chavez said on Saturday at a ceremony to celebrate 90 years of Venezuela's air force.

Fatherland's defence

"We are simply doing the task of defending the fatherland from the threat of empire and its allies."

Chavez gave no details of what equipment the Russian money would be used to buy. In April, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had said Venezuela was considering $5 billion of weapons orders.

Poor diplomatic relations between Chavez, who first won office 12 years ago, and the United States, which he calls an empire, led to a US arms embargo against Venezuela in 2006.

Without access to spare parts, Venezuela's fleet of about 20 US-built F-16 fighters has fallen into disrepair, giving Chavez a strong argument for buying new equipment from Russia and China.