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Venezuela stepped up its words of war with neighboring Colombia Monday, in moves seen as an effort by President Hugo Chavez to distract voters from domestic problems ahead of key September elections.

The escalating diplomatic row, sparked by Bogota's allegations last week that Venezuela was harboring 1,500 Colombian rebels on its territory, had prompted Chavez to cancel a trip to Cuba citing the danger of "armed aggression" by Colombia, warning the United States to stay out of the crisis.

In his place Monday, Electricity Minister Ali Rodriguez upon visiting Havana claimed Bogota's accusations were a "foul, vulgar and offensive pretext to attack Venezuela."

Chavez meanwhile threatened to cut off oil supplies to the United States if it backed a Colombian attack, although the US State Department also made clear it was reiterating its stance that the United States "has no intention of engaging in military action against Venezuela."

Chavez broke off diplomatic relations with Bogota Thursday in response to charges by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that the FARC guerrillas had set up bases inside Venezuela and were launching attacks from its territory.

Venezuela's anti-American leftist president added on Sunday he had intelligence that "the possibility of an armed aggression against Venezuelan territory from Colombia" was higher than it has been "in 100 years."

Political experts pointed out, however, that the saber-rattling came just in time for the Venezuelan ruling party's electoral campaign for legislative polls two months away.

Chavez, analyst Jose Vicente Carrasquero told AFP, was seeking to "excite the spirits of his supporters" while simultaneously trying to "divert attention from the internal situation in Venezuela to a possible international conflict."

The parliamentary vote is the latest chance by opposition parties to gain a foothold in the country after being marginalized in 2005 legislative polls that the opposition claims was less than transparent at best, and rigged at worst.

The South American country appears ready for change with public discontent over a crushing economic recession, high inflation and an ongoing energy crisis, as it also faces deep-seated political polarization and rising levels of urban violence.

The Chavez administration has also been fending off public anger over the explosive revelations of thousands of tons of food rotting throughout its public distribution apparatus, in a country where the government regulates the prices for basic foodstuffs.

Statements made about a possible attack by Colombia "have no basis in reality," maintained analyst Ricardo Sucre, who has in the past been highly critical of Chavez.

Before the spat, said Sucre, Caracas had already been looking for a wedge issue that could "create a threatening climate in which to identify an enemy... to polarize the campaign."

Caracas's words of war, meanwhile, have also been put on a physical footing, with Venezuelan armed forces along the border with Colombia being placed by Chavez on "maximum alert" to prevent any possible military incursion.

The stabs at Washington came after the United States on Friday threw its support behind key ally Colombia, with US officials calling Chavez's severing of cross-border relations "a petulant response" to Bogota's accusations.

Taking the dispute directly to the international community Monday, Venezuela's UN Ambassador Jorge Valero Briceno met with UN chief Ban Ki-moon to give him a letter explaining the alleged threat and argue why his country broke off diplomatic ties with Bogota.

The letter, said Valero, underscores the "aggressive plan against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Venezuela" allegedly hatched by the outgoing Uribe and Washington.

Valero also expressed Caracas' hope that president-elect Juan Manuel Santos, who is to take office August 7, "does not follow the war-mongering plans" of Washington and Uribe, and "gives clear and unambiguous signals that it has the political will to resume the path of dialogue."

Story from AFP
AFP 07/27/2010

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