MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chavez claims US forces in Colombia are a step toward war

Colombian president Uribe “blackmailing” Venezuela with “dirty tricks”

US plans to deploy extra forces at seven Colombian bases could be a step toward war in South America claimed Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez who called on US President Barack Obama not to increase US presence in Colombia.

“These bases could be the start of a war in South America” Chavez told reporters. “We're talking about the Yankees, the most aggressive nation in human history”.

A close Chavez ally, Bolivian President Evo Morales, a former coca farmer who ousted US anti-drug agents last year, said Colombia's drug-funded FARC rebels had become Washington's “best tool” to justify military operations in the region.

”What did the United States say when it invaded Iraq? They said (former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein) had weapons of mass destruction. Where are they? Saddam was the real target. In our region, the pretext is the fight against drug-trafficking“ said Morales.

”We can't have all these planes and military equipment concentrated in Colombia. This is against the FARC. This isn't against drug-trafficking, it's against the region. Our duty is to reject it” Morales told a news conference.

Chavez also accused Colombian president Alvaro Uribe of “blackmailing” Venezuela with claims about alleged Venezuelan weapons found in possession of the FARC groups, more precisely Swedish manufactured portable rocket launchers.

“It’s the Colombian government trying to blackmail us; it’s their style of government, dirty tricks. No wonder they came up with the issue when we protested the deployment of US troops in Colombian bases”, added Chavez.

“Here they are setting up 3, 4, 5 US military bases just across from Venezuela. We have a right to protest. We have our rights, so they come up with the rocket launchers. They are unfounded claims, it is blackmail”.

Chavez said that the conflict with Colombia is the workings of the “oligarchies that that don’t want the unity” between countries of the region. “The Yankees are also conspiring against regional unity”.

The Swedish weapons apparently were reported stolen from Venezuelan Army barracks in the early nineties, well before Chavez became Venezuelan president.