COLOMBIA - VENEZUELA
Chavez accuses Colombia of plotting war
Monday 12 May 2008
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez claimed that the Colombian government was planning a war against Venezuela.
Special Report Ingrid Betancourt rescuedMonday 12 May 2008
By AFPPresident Hugo Chavez said Sunday on his radio talk show that neighboring Colombia is trying to provoke Venezuela into a war so as to draw in and "justify" an armed intervention by the United States.
"The government of
He warned Colombian President Alvaro Uribe: "think closely about how far you can go, and I publicly urge you a moment of reflection."
Chavez and Uribe locked horns in March after a Colombian military attack on a Colombian rebel camp inside
Chavez and Uribe have also sparred over mediation attempts to get some 40 prominent hostages of the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia released, including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.
Chavez, a populist and virulently anti-American president, has also condemned what he calls
"I issue an alert to the continent, the Venezuelan people, the armed forces over the Colombian government's intention to provoke a war against us," Chavez said.
"This has been planned and (the war) would come by way of the (western) states of Zulia and Tachira. They've been playing for time and making their plans.
"It would be a war in which the paramilitaries would play a role of penetration and intelligence," Chavez said, allegedly referring to
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REPORT
El Pais publishes documents that could tarnish Chavez' image. 11/05
