Two Russian strategic bombers have landed in Venezuela for military manouevres, as the Kremlin flexes its muscle amid a tense standoff with the United States over the war in Georgia.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the two Tupolev Tu-160 bombers had arrived in the country last night and that he hoped “to fly one of those things”. The deployment was part of a move towards a “multi-polar world”, he said in a televised address, adding: “The Yankee hegemony is finished.”

Military analysts said it was the first time Russian strategic bombers have landed in the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War. The provocative foray into what has traditionally been America’s backyard comes just days after Russia and Venezuela announced plans for a joint military exercise involving a nuclear cruiser in the Caribbean, and is certain to ratchet up tensions between Moscow and Washington.

The Russian Defence Ministry said the bombers flew to Venezuela on a training mission and would conduct training flights over neutral waters in the next few days before returning to Russia, according to a statement carried by Russian news wires.

NATO fighters tracked the bombers on their 13-hour trip to Venezuela over the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, the ministry said.

The tracking planes came “dangerously close” at points, Vladimir Drik, a spokesman for the Russian Air Force, said.

The planes - huge supersonic combat aircraft capable of carrying nuclear or conventional bombs and cruise and guided missiles - are currently at El Libertador air base in the northern town of Palo Negro, in Aragua state, according to sources in the Venezuelan defence ministry.

Mr Drik said there were no nuclear weapons on board the planes. However defence spokespeople refused to say whether any other type of weapons were being carried.

Despite denials from the Russian foreign ministry, the deployment appeared to be a tit-for-tat response after the US sent warships to deliver aid to its ally Georgia, following its war with Russia last month. NATO has also been conducting war games in the Black Sea, a move Moscow has denounced as part of a Western military build-up on its doorstep.

“This is a redux of Cold War games, and a dangerous thing to do,” Moscow-based military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer said. “It will only strengthen the hand of those in the United States who want to punish Russia for its action in Georgia.”

Earlier this week, Russia said it will send a naval squadron and long-range patrol planes to Venezuela in November for a joint military exercise in the Caribbean. Among the ships involved will be the heavy nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser Peter the Great, a vessel with massive firepower whose cruise missiles can deliver nuclear or conventional warheads.

Thomas Gomart of the Paris-based French Institute of International Relations noted that, up to now, Russia had contented itself with selling arms, notably fighter-bombers, to Caracas. But the announcement of the Caribbean manoeuvres seemed to be both an overt challenge to US power and a gesture of support to Mr Chavez's socialist policies.

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