Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned supporters on Sunday that the United States could try to sabotage his upcoming re-election bid, his latest salvo in a new row with Washington over alleged U.S. spying. Left-wing Chavez, who frequently accuses the Bush administration of seeking to overthrow him, has presented what he calls the U.S. "empire" as his principal adversary in the December election. Washington believes Chavez's self-styled socialist revolution risks destabilizing the region, but it has dismissed as propaganda charges that it wants to oust him. "They're going to call for the government to be rejected, and they're going to try to push us toward a situation of ungovernability and chaos," said Chavez. "This is the empire's plan ... they'll try to do anything, so we need to be alert."
Venezuela's presidential election is set for December. The accusation comes days after Chavez ordered the expulsion of U.S. Naval Attache John Correa for allegedly trying to convince Venezuelan military officials to pass state secrets to the Pentagon. The U.S. State Department denied the accusations, and on Friday expelled the Venezuelan embassy chief of staff in a tit-for-tat response.
Chavez told a rally of tens of thousands of supporters on Saturday that he could shut down Venezuelan-owned refineries in the United States if Washington severed ties with the oil-rich South American nation. He added that he would seek to arm 1 million Venezuelans to protect the nation from a possible U.S. invasion.
Chavez has won over many poor Venezuelans with a multibillion dollar social development program and harsh rhetoric condemning U.S. foreign policy and free market policies. Last week Chavez announced a minimum wage hike, a tax cut and new state spending initiatives, opening his campaign for an election he is widely expected to sweep. Under his leadership Venezuela, the fourth largest supplier of oil to the United States, has worked to reduced U.S. influence in the region and built alliances with U.S. foes like Iran and Cuba.