Russian warships received a 21-gun salute in Venezuela today as they made their first show of force in America's back yard

Russian warships received a 21-gun salute in Venezuela today as they made their first show of force in America's back yard since the end of the Cold War.

The nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great and the submarine destroyer Admiral Chabanenko arrived at the port of La Guaira ahead of wargames in the Caribbean with the Venezuelan Navy.

Their presence was timed to coincide with the visit of President Medvedev tomorrow, the first to Venezuela by a Russian leader, as Moscow seeks to reclaim influence in the region lost after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

President Chavez, Venezuela's fiercely anti-American leader, welcomed the arrival of the task force in what is being seen as a calculated display of Russian defiance to the United States.

Peter the Great is the largest ship in the Russian Navy and so big that it had to anchor offshore at La Guaira. Venezuelan sailors lined the harbour as the Admiral Chabanenko and two support vessels docked.

General Jesus Gonzalez, head of Operations Command in Venezuela, said that 11 ships and eight aircraft would take part in the joint exercises with the Russian fleet, which includes five aircraft. Some 1,150 Russian and 600 Venezuelan servicemen were involved.

Venezuela showed off two of its new Sukhoi fighter jets recently bought from Russia, which performed a fly-over as the task force approached. Mr Chavez has bought more than $4 billion of Russian arms since 2005 and is expected to conclude more deals during Mr Medvedev's visit.

The Kremlin has described its relationship with Venezuela as a “counterweight to US influence”. The presence of its task force so close to the American coast is seen as a retort to the US decision to send warships into the Black Sea to deliver aid to Georgia after the war over South Ossetia in August.

The US State Department laughed off the arrival of the ageing Russian vessels, with spokesman Sean McCormack asking reporters: "Are they accompanied by tugboats this time?"

He dismissed Moscow's ambition to challenge US dominance in the region, but added that Washington would watch the military exercises "very closely". Mr Chavez insisted that the manoeuvres were not provocative and described them as an "exchange between two free countries".

He is seeking Russian aid to build Venezuela's first nuclear power station. Mr Medvedev, who has also visited Peru and Brazil, will continue his Latin American tour with a trip to communist Cuba.

Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, said in August that Russia should “restore its position in Cuba” amid speculation that it may seek to open a military base on the island in response to US plans to establish a missile defence shield in eastern Europe.