Worried: Venezuelan oil minister Rafael Ramirez
Ramirez frets over US military in Colombia
Venezuela's oil minister said today he is concerned over plans that would allow US military personnel to operate from military bases in neighbouring Colombia.
"It's an act of aggression toward our country," Rafael Ramirez told reporters. "We are worried about what's happening."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez also slammed the plan earlier this week, criticising both the US and Colombia, a Dow Jones Newswire report said.
"Now that the Yankees want to set up four bases in Colombia...it forces us to review our relations with Colombia," said Chavez, who sees it as a threat to Venezuela's sovereignty and his move toward socialism.
The statements by Chavez and Ramirez follow an announcement by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that the US would be allowed "use of and limited access to Colombian military bases."
Venezuela is the fourth-largest supplier of oil to the US, and shares a nearly 1400-mile border with Colombia.