Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez
Chavez sees US as threat in Colombia
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said a plan to put additional US troops in Colombia is aimed at a possible attack on the country to get its huge oil reserves.
"We are glad to share our oil right now with everyone including the US, but if [the US] invades ... there will not be oil for anyone," Hugo Chavez said during a press conference.
He said he's not surprised by the plan announced by Colombia last month to let additional US troops operate on Colombian military bases, ostensibly to ramp up the fight against drugs, reported Dow Jones.
Chavez said the real reason for more troops Colombia is so the US can inch closer to Venezuela's oil.
"For the empire [the US], this is what they want, oil," he said.
Venezuela has some 99 billion barrels of proven reserves and is among the largest oil-producing nations in the world.