CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez yesterday ratcheted up a spat with Colombia over a U.S. troop plan, ending a fuel subsidy and accusing his neighbor of a small military incursion across the shared Orinoco River.
Persistent Washington critic Chavez is furious at a plan to house a few hundred more U.S. troops at seven Colombian military bases and says it risks sparking war in South America.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe says the troop plan is necessary to fight drug traffickers but Chavez claims a greater U.S. presence in the region is a direct threat to him.
“Stop the supply of (subsidized) fuel to Colombia right now, let them buy it at its real price. How can we favor the government of Uribe like this?”
Under a 2008 agreement, OPEC nation Venezuela sells between 50,000 and 120,000 barrels of subsidized gasoline each month to Colombia to combat rampant fuel smuggling.
Speaking on his weekly television show, Chavez also said he had been informed Colombian soldiers crossed a river border in a small boat, in what he called “a provocation,” although he said the boat had gone by the time Venezuelan troops arrived to check.
“This is a provocation by the government of Uribe, that’s the Yankees there, the Yankees have started to command Colombian military forces,” said Chavez, who often uses incendiary words against his neighbor but usually backs down quickly.
Colombian officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Chavez has already taken measures against Colombia’s state oil company and car exporters, and yesterday urged companies to buy less from one of Venezuela’s top trade partners. He previously warned the fuel deal was under review. The two countries shared $7 billion in commerce last year, with Venezuela exporting oil and chemical products in exchange for food and textiles.
Venezuela has some of the world’s cheapest gasoline, which costs just a few U.S. cents to fill a large tank and makes contraband sales to more costly Colombia big business.
The OPEC nation says it loses 27,000 barrels per day and $1 billion per year to traffickers ranging from small-time peddlers to large-scale smuggling.
