US putting South America under siege -Chavez

Venezuela: Venez-uelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday said the United States is seeking to put South America under a military siege, and warned Venezuela will strengthen defense.

Washington's aim is to be in control of Venezuela's oil and other strategic targets like the Amazonia forest, the giant South American mining system in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, Chavez stressed.

In his Sunday column "Las lineas de Chavez," the statesman particularly slammed the Colombian government for allowing the United States to use its military bases. According to Chavez, Colombia has become a replica of Israel in South America. In the Americas Summit held in Trinidad and Tobago in April, President Barack Obama talked forgetting the past, and the Colombian representant to a recent UNASUR meeting added the missing part when she spoke of stripping dialogue of any ideological meaning, Chavez noted.

The head of State recalled Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's words when he referred to an international double standard: rebel governments should be blamed for everything, while obedient government must be supported at all costs.

"Military bases, according to the Empire's vision, are a problem of the Colombian sovereignty, but the development of a nuclear program by a country Washington considers a member of the Axis of Evil is not a problem of sovereignty, but a global threat," the Venezuelan president said.

To face that situation, Chavez ratified his proposal of creating "peace bases," stating that if Venezuela is attacked, the country will defend with all resources available.

Caracas, Prensa Latina