(Image source: Voice of Russia)

BY HANNAH MYRICK

Russia’s plans to build a nuclear power plant in Venezuela have caused some Western news organizations to ask themselves why an oil-rich nation like Venezuela would need nuclear power. Fox News analyst KT McFarland says the deal could be a cover up.
 
“They don’t need it.  But it provides them the cover should they ever decide they want to turn those nuclear energy plants into nuclear weapons facilities.”

 
These concerns are not new. In 2008, when the two nations first began discussing a nuclear power plant, BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus said the deal would be sending a message to the United States.

“The Russian president’s aim is to show Washington ... that if the US does things in Europe near Russia’s borders which Moscow does not like, then Russia can pursue its own policies in a region long see by Washington as its backyard.”


According to AFP, a State Department spokesman says Washington is watching the deal - quote - “very, very closely.”

RT reports the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez say they were prepared for that, but are determined not to let their futures depend on the desires of the west.
 
“One of the things that the Venezuelan president mentioned during his lecture today is that it’s time to get away from the bipolar world and single polar world and that Russia and Venezuela are starting a multi polar political establishment in the world.”

Financial Times blogger Benedict Mander says the deal is not just a bold geopolitical move that will benefit Venezuela, there are benefits for Russia involved too.
 
“For Russian companies, oil-rich Venezuela is a land of opportunity. Arms companies, for example, have made a killing in Venezuela.”

 
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