Venezuela ? The U.S government officially banned all arms sales to Venezuela, accusing the government of President Hugo Chavez of not cooperating with Washington’s anti-terrorism efforts.

The arms ban formalizes what has been a de facto policy as U.S.-Venezuelan relations deteriorated in recent months.

In November, the U.S. government acknowledged that it had moved to block sales of eight Spanish patrol boats and 12 aircraft to Venezuela, saying the equipment contained U.S. technology.

Venezuela maintained the boats and planes were to be used for non-offensive purposes, including combating drug traffic. Spain and Venezuela signed a deal anyway, replacing the gear in question with European components.

Earlier this year, the Bush administration quashed the sale of four Brazilian jets to Venezuela, citing U.S. components in the aircraft. Venezuela promptly announced that it would buy planes from Russia instead.