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 News from Around the Americas | February 2005 
U.S. Calls Chavez's Charges Ridiculous
 Agence France-Presse
 Washington - The US State Department slammed as "ridiculous and untrue" Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's allegations that Washington is hatching a plot to have him killed.
Those allegations are "ridiculous and untrue," spokesman Richard Boucher said, asked about Chavez's repeated allegations.
Chavez threatened Sunday to suspend oil exports to the United States if someone tries to assassinate him, adding that US President George W. Bush would be to blame.
"If they kill me, there will be a really guilty party on this planet whose name is the president of the United States, George Bush," Chavez said on his weekly radio program, "Hello, Mr. President."
"If, by the hand of the devil, those perverse plans succeed ... forget about Venezuelan oil, Mr. Bush," he said.
"The United States knows that I have a 70 percent (approval rating)," Chavez said. "And they know that I am unbeatable in the 2006 elections and that they cannot isolate us from our brother countries, despite their blackmail attempts."
Boucher told reporters here that "the idea that we were out to get the president of Venezuela is just plain wrong."
"What we do want to do is look at various policy issues that we have with the government of Venezuela, and policy issues that have arisen with others in the region, that we need to deal with."
"The whole region has been concerned at times about some of the activities in Venezuela that we've noticed the (Colombian) FARC has had," Boucher added.
"But we have to be concerned about these aspects of Venezuelan behavior because they are disruptive to the region, and we need to address them," the State Department spokesman said.
Chavez has also recently accused the United States of being involved in an April 2002 coup, which removed him from power for less than two days.
Washington has accused Chavez of being undemocratic especially when it comes to the Venezuelan opposition, and has more recently criticized arms purchases from Russia and Brazil.
Venezuela is the only Latin American member of the Organization of the Petroleum Producing Countries, and sells about 1.5 million barrels daily to the United States, nearly as much as Saudi Arabia.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently called Chavez "a negative force" in Latin America, and the State Department backed Colombia in a recent dispute between the Caribbean neighbors over the arrest of a Colombian rebel in Caracas by Colombian officials without Venezuela's knowledge or consent. |
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