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Chavez vows to side with Castro against the US
Any "imperialist" attack against either Cuba or Venezuela would be resisted by both nations as one, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Friday in an apparent reference to the United States.Chavez routinely condemns the United States as a hostile "imperialist" power he says is bent on invading Venezuela to seize its oil wealth and topple or kill him, a charge U.S. officials reject as ridiculous. "The Cuban and Venezuelan peoples and revolutions are one and the same," the left-wing leader said during a ceremony at which he awarded decorations to more than 90 Cuban teachers who had worked in a Venezuelan literacy program. "The world should know, in case there's anyone out there who hasn't realized it yet ... that any imperialist attack against one of us will be an attack against both," he said. The United States remains the single biggest oil client of Venezuela, receiving around 15 percent of its oil imports from the world's No. 5 oil exporter. But President Bush's administration often criticizes Chavez's close alliance with Cuban President Fidel Castro, who also regularly warns his people to be alert for the threat of attack by the United States. Washington maintains trade sanctions against Communist-ruled Cuba. U.S. officials have accused Chavez and Castro of joining forces to stir up anti-U.S. revolution in Latin America. Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-07-09 |
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