Russia displaces U.S. as Latin arms source: "As the United States remains otherwise engaged in the Middle East and Afghanistan, Russia has secured a long-term security role in Latin America, becoming its largest military supplier between 2008 and 2009, data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies showed.
It happened while the Bush and Obama administrations' attention and energies were focused on anti-terrorist operations in the Middle East and elsewhere and not so much in Central or South America.
Analysts said the reasons for Russia's rise as the purveyor of weapons in Latin America could be two-fold. First, Russia needs markets and cash to keep its weapons manufacturing operations ticking over."
