Venezuela threatens to cut off oil to U.S.:
[World News]: By CARMEN J.GENTILE, UPI Chief Latin America
Correspondent : Making no bones about it, Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez made it clear that any act of aggression on the part of the
United States would result in an immediate end to its bountiful supply
of oil to its best customer in the north.
The world's 5th largest oil exporter, Venezuela has been the target of
Washington's ire in recent weeks and months, causing the left-wing
Chavez much dismay.During his visit Friday to India -- where Chavez is
hammering out the details of an oil agreement with the leading
developing nation -- the Venezuelan leader made it very clear that if
the United States "hurts" his country in any way, the oil values will
be shut off."If there is any aggression, there will be no oil," Chavez
told reporters Friday, then went on to express his delight with the
prospects of a long-term oil deal with India."We want to supply oil to
the United States.(But) we are not going to avoid this supply of oil
unless the U.S. government gets a little bit crazy and tries to hurt
us."
Chavez's caveat concerning the oil flow to its biggest and best
customer comes amid a tense point in U.S.-Venezuelan relations.
On Thursday, Venezuela's Vice President Jose Rangel accused the U.
S. State Department representative for the region of being out of
touch with matters in Latin America.According to Rangel, the U.S.
government is "totally out of control in regards to Venezuela and
doesn't have any idea what is happening in Latin America."
Rangel's remarks follow Wednesday's testimony by Assistant Secretary
of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger Noriega in front of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee.Noriega told lawmakers that the
State Department was concerned that "(Venezuelan) President Hugo
Chavez's very personal agenda may undermine democratic institutions at
home and among his neighbors."
The Bush administration has long been a critic of the politics and
policies of Chavez, accusing him of attempting to create a Cuban-style
dictatorship in the South American country and supporting Colombian
leftist rebels intent on destabilizing the government of Venezuela's
neighbor.Both accusations Chavez adamantly denies, adding recently
that he was concerned that the U.S. government was intent on
overthrowing his administration."His efforts to concentrate power at
home, his suspect relationship with destabilizing forces in the
region, and his plans for arms purchases are causes of major concern
to the Bush administration," said Noriega.Earlier this week Venezuelan
military officials expressed concern about the presence of U.S. naval
vessels at the nearby island of Curacao.
Venezuelan Navy Cmdr.Armando Laguna said Venezuela was "taking
precautions" and investigating just what U.S. ships and other military
equipment are doing on the island, located fewer than 50 miles from
Venezuela's coast.
In recent weeks, Chavez has accused the United States of trying to
incite a war with Venezuela and went as far to allege Washington was
intent on killing him.
"If something happens to me, there is only one person responsible for
it, and his name is George W.Bush," said Chavez on Tuesday, echoing
previous assertions that the White House had designs on assassinating
him.
In January, while still a U.S. Secretary of State nominee, Condoleezza
Rice criticized Chavez, who she said governed "illiberally," although
he was democratically elected.
The Venezuelan leader sought to counter doubters regarding a possible
U.S. invasion of Venezuela, citing precedent in Panama, where U.S.
troops landed in 1989 and captured then Panamanian leader Manuel
Noriega.
More recently and closer to home Chavez fingered the United States for
playing a hand in the April 2002 coup that saw him briefly deposed,
only to return to power 48 hours later.At the time, the White House
expressed its support for the coup and Venezuela's opposition and
continues to fund some Venezuelan opposition parties via the National
Endowment for Democracy.In the last year, Chavez has been balking more
vociferously at alleged U.S. interference in Venezuelan affairs,
accusing the White House of conspiring to gain control of its oil
production.
The supposed pressure from abroad appears to have in part prompted
Chavez to beef up Venezuela's defenses, a move that has caused concern
from the State Department.In 2004, Venezuela agreed to purchase an
estimated 50 MiG fighter jets from Russia as well as other arms.And
earlier this month, Brazil said it would sell at least a dozen light
attack aircraft known as Super Tucanos to Venezuela.State Department
spokesman Adam Ereli said that the purchase from Russia had a
potentially "destabilizing effect on the hemisphere."
Among Washington's concerns about a heavily armed Venezuela is the
possibility of conflict between the leftist Chavez and neighboring
Colombia, led by right-wing Bush administration ally Alvaro
Uribe.Colombia has received some $3.3 billion in arms and assistance
from Washington in recent years to ostensibly fund the South American
nation's war against drug cartels and left-wing rebel groups.
Chavez, however, has accused Colombia and the United States of
conspiring together to remove him from power by funding improvements
in the Colombian military.And on Friday, Interior and Justice Minister
Jesse Chacon announced that security would be beefed up along the
dense forested border with Colombia and include flyovers by military
helicopters.
- -- Copyright 2005 by United Press International.
"Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one,some bigger than others"
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