With National Assembly elections scheduled for September, Chavez has come under pressure from within the country to deliver on short-term and long-term projects beneficial to the Venezuelan economy.

Chavez also faced criticism after he embarked on a foreign tour last year and signed dozens of purchase agreements in Moscow, Tehran and Tripoli, plus a range of ambitious bilateral cooperation accords.

Chavez's tour coincided with a severe energy crisis in Venezuela that worsened as water levels in reservoirs feeding electricity generators dropped to alarming levels. National power generation officials last month renewed warnings the drought was taking a toll on Venezuela's power generation capacity.

The domestic energy crisis shows no sign of easing but Chavez this week is host to a high-profile Russian visit that dominated the headlines. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is to arrive in Venezuela Friday to follow up on agreements signed when Chavez visited Moscow last year.

As part of an earlier arms deal, Putin will take part in the final delivery of 38 Mi-17 Hip helicopters that Caracas ordered in 2006. He will also follow up on agreed sales on easy repayment terms of additional military equipment bought by Chavez in the heat of a war of words with Colombia.

Chavez hasn't relented in his condemnation of Colombia and has continued personalized attacks on Colombian President Alvaro Uribe for signing a military pact with the United States to fight drug warlords on the cocaine trail to North America.

Amid the rhetoric, the Colombian economy has bounced back after the 2008 global downturn while Venezuela's shrunk in 2009.

Colombia is also preparing for a smooth transition to Uribe's successor after the May presidential election, while Chavez's election chances in 2011 depend on the outcome of the September assembly polls.

None of this seems to have come in the way of a concerted Russian drive to push weapons sales in Latin America, with Venezuela as its largest customer. Moscow needs new customers for its weapons inventories because its arms industry is producing more than the Russian military can absorb. Russia also has offered easy repayment terms to other potential arms buyers in South America.

A Venezuelan Foreign Ministry statement said Putin's visit was "an opportunity to advance cooperation in the fields of energy, industry, agriculture and defense, among others."

The Russians have already agreed to loan Venezuela $2 billion as part of a deal to sell Caracas tanks and anti-aircraft missiles and more deals are under negotiation.

Venezuela's ongoing problems with Colombia mean further armament may be on Chavez's military shopping list, analysts said.

In Washington, the Russian advance in Venezuela was viewed in the wider context of increased economic and military collaboration between South American countries and China, Iran and Russia.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has voiced concern over the three countries' growing influence, seen by analysts as a direct outcome of previous U.S. administrations' preoccupation away from the region.

Ahead of Putin's visit, Russia and Venezuela agreed on a deal to form a joint venture to develop Venezuela's Junin-6 block in one of the largest fields outside the Middle East.

Venezuela is also following up oil collaboration deals with Iran.

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