A Russian navy task force will sail into Venezuela tomorrow as President Medvedev undertakes a tour of Latin America to challenge the dominance of the United States. The nuclear-powered Peter the Great, one of Russia’s largest warships, and the submarine destroyer Admiral Chabenenko are due to dock at La Guaira port before wargames in the Caribbean with the Venezuelan Navy. It is the first Russian naval mission to Latin America since the end of the Cold War. The ships’ arrival comes a day before Mr Medvedev visits Venezuela to seal an agreement on strategic energy co-operation with the regime of President Chavez. The Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom will lead a consortium of the country’s largest oil and gas companies in a joint venture with Petroleos de Venezuela. Sergei Shmatko, Russia’s Energy Minister, said that the consortium, which plans to invest billions of dollars, would become an oil and gas leader in Latin America.