Venezuela preparing to repel US invasion if necessary - Chavez

AP
Sunday, September 04, 2005



CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela has uncovered plans for a United
States-led invasion and is preparing to defend the country against
invading forces if necessary, President Hugo Chavez said in a report
carried by the state-run news agency.

The Bolivarian News Agency reported late Friday that Chavez made the
comments during an interview with CNN. It was unclear when the interview
was to be aired.

"If it occurs to the United States to invade our country - Fidel Castro
said it and I agree - a war will start here to last 100 years," Chavez was
quoted as saying.

"Not only this country would be burned up, but a good part of this
continent; they shouldn't make any mistake about it, we are preparing to
repel an invasion."

Chavez has made similar claims in the past, and US officials have
repeatedly denied them as ridiculous. Venezuela is the world's fifth
largest oil exporter and a major supplier of fuel to the United States.

"We discovered through intelligence work a military exercise that NATO has
of an invasion against Venezuela, and we are preparing ourselves for that
invasion," Chavez was quoted as saying.

He said the military exercise is known as "Plan Balboa" and includes
rehearsing simultaneous assaults by air, sea and land at a military base
in Spain, involving troops from the United States and NATO countries.

US officials in the past have said such training is meant to prepare
troops for general scenarios but not for a specific military action.
The state news agency, commonly known as ABN for its initials in Spanish,
said according to Chavez the invasion plan focuses on western Venezuela
and also includes a wave of bombings over Caracas and the cities of
Maracay and Valencia.

"It's known they have everything planned out to capture the oil fields of
the west and the east, the south," Chavez was quoted as saying.

Chavez repeated his threat that if the government of US president George W
Bush were to attempt an attack, his government would immediately cut off
oil shipments to the United States.


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