 WASHINGTON (AP) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday he has documentary evidence that the United States plans to invade his country. Chavez, interviewed on ABC's "Nightline," said the plan is called "Balboa" and involves aircraft carriers and planes. A transcript of the interview was made available by "Nightline."
| Carriers and planes? Boy, ya can't put anything past Hugo. |
He said U.S. soldiers recently went to Curacao, an island off Venezuela's northwest coast. He described as a "lie" the official U.S. explanation that they visited Curacao for rest and recreation. "They were doing movements. They were doing maneuvers," Chavez said, speaking through a translator.
"Say Tyrone, check out the blonde at 4 o'clock."
"Wowzers. Gonna try a manuever?"
"Yep, see if we git a little movement." |
He added: "We are coming up with the counter-Balboa plan. That is to say if the government of the United States attempts to commit the foolhardy enterprise of attacking us, it would be embarked on a 100-year war. We are prepared." To prove U.S. intentions to invade Venezuela, Chavez offered to send "Nightline" host Ted Koppel maps and other documentation. "What I can't tell you is how we got it, to protect the sources, how we got it through military intelligence," he said. In the event of a U.S. invasion, Chavez said the United States can "just forget" about receiving any more oil from his country.
| Hugo's sampling his own product. |
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