CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela yesterday tested  six training and light attack jets bought from China for  defence and anti-drugs flights in a deal that dodges an embargo  banning sales of US weapons parts to oil exporter Venezuela.

President Hugo Chavez ordered a total of 18 K-8 jets built  by China after a plan to buy similar jets from Brazil’s Embraer  fell through, apparently because they include  US electrical systems.

“Thank you, China. The empire wanted to leave us unarmed.  Socialist China, revolutionary China appeared and here are our K-8  planes,” he said during a televised display of the jets’  capabilities.

Officials at the ceremony said the versatile jets will be  used to train pilots and intercept drug traffickers who use  Venezuela as a stop off point to take Colombian cocaine to the  United States, Europe and Africa.

Washington accuses the socialist Chavez, a close ally of  Cuba and Iran, of starting an arms race in South America, where  several nations have beefed-up their military in the last few  years.

Tensions with neighbour Colombia over US access to  military bases there and accusations that Chavez supports FARC  guerrillas have raised concerns of a violent incident between  the two countries.

Colombia is the region’s biggest military spender as a  proportion of GDP because of its civil war with the leftist  rebels.

OPEC member Venezuela has also bought a network of 10  radar from China and has spent about $4 billion on Russian  weapons including fighter jets to replace F-16 planes that are  rusting away because of the US embargo, which started in  2006