Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez may sign arms deals worth $3 billion when he meets Vladimir Putin on Thursday at the end of his visit to Russia. Chavez, a vociferous critic of Washington, has praised Russia for defying a U.S. arms blockade and had been expected to spend $1 billion on fighter aircraft for oil-rich Venezuela. “The biggest threat which exists in the world is the empire of the United States,” Chavez said while unveiling a bust of 19th century South American liberation hero Simon Bolivar at a Moscow library. Full Story