Chavez threatens US oil cut

VENEZUELA: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened Sunday to cut oil supplies to the United States in case of a military attack from Colombia as a dispute escalated over charges his country harbors Colombian rebels.

A vocal and frequent critic of the United States, Chavez broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia last week over the claims by the outgoing Government of President Alvaro Uribe, a close US ally.

Chavez, a leftist who says Washington is behind the charges, has never carried out previous threats to cut oil supplies to the United States, Venezuela’s main customer.

“If there was any armed aggression against Venezuela from Colombian territory or from anywhere else, promoted by the Yankee empire, we would suspend oil shipments to the United States even if we have to eat stones here,” he said.

“We would not send a drop more to US refineries,” he said to a roar of approval from thousands of supporters at a rally for his Socialist party.

Chavez, a former soldier and close ally of Cuba’s Fidel Castro, is also angry with Bogota over a deal to allow US troops access to a series of military bases.

Venezuela, a member of OPEC, gets more than 90 percent of its export income from oil sales, mostly to the United States, and the South American country’s economy would collapse quickly if it stopped shipments.

Caracas, Monday, Reuters