Chavez: U.S. Oil Cutoff Possible Unless Relations Improve

by Humberto Marquez

(IPS) CARACAS -- "We don't want to break off ties with the U.S. government, this is not in our plans, but if the attacks keep increasing, that could endanger Venezuela's diplomatic relations with the United States," said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

"We have no reason to cut off (oil) supplies," unless President Bush provokes that decision, Chavez remarked at a world youth festival in Caracas Sunday.

The two tankers that carry oil from Venezuela to the United States every day "could go elsewhere" if that occurs, he warned.

The latest escalation of tension between the United States and Venezuela was triggered last week when Chavez accused the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of spying and of breaking local laws by making "controlled deliveries" of illegal drugs, and officially suspended cooperation with the DEA.

In a move that analysts interpreted as retaliation, Washington then revoked the visas of three Venezuelan military officers involved in anti-drug efforts.

In turn, Venezuela withdrew the diplomatic immunity of DEA agents last Friday.

Analysts say that although the incidents will not sever diplomatic and commercial ties between Washington and Caracas, they pave the way to a possible rupture.

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said Washington's cancellation of the visas of generals Frank Morgado, the National Guard (militarized police) anti-drug commander, and Alexis Maneiro, head of the National Guard academy, was "a political decision."

"It is a new attack on our country. The service record of these officers is impeccable," said Rangel, after complaining that his government found out about the U.S. decision to pull the officers' visas through the media.

U.S. ambassador in Caracas William Brownfield did not confirm the withdrawal of the visas, but said his government "suspects that some Venezuelan military or civilian officials are involved in drug trafficking."

Brownfield noted that in just over a month, the U.S. government will release its annual report in which it evaluates how well other countries are cooperating in the fight against drugs, deciding whether or not to "certify" them, "and will take into account the situation that has come up in Venezuela."

Rangel and General Melvin Lopez, the army's inspector general, said the DEA was conducting controlled deliveries of confiscated drugs, with agents posing as drug dealers or pilots, which is illegal in Venezuela. They also said the U.S. agency had carried out arrests in Venezuelan territory without informing the local authorities.

Lopez said, "The practice allows further crimes to be committed and constitutes entrapment, because delivering drugs to a person who will carry them on sets trafficking into motion."

The two generals and other National Guard officers whose visas were revoked reportedly drafted reports denouncing the irregularities allegedly committed by the DEA.

State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said in Washington that Chavez's accusations against the DEA were "baseless."

If Venezuela is not certified as fully cooperating in the "war on drugs," Washington could veto multilateral loans to this South American country, such as a 1.5 billion-dollar credit for which Caracas has applied from the Inter-American Development Bank.

Political analyst Alberto Garrido predicted that "Washington will quickly launch a campaign to create the public impression that Venezuela is not cooperating in the fight against drugs."

Maria Teresa Romero, a professor of international studies at the Central University of Venezuela, told IPS that "I don't think that this incident with the DEA will produce a rupture in diplomatic or commercial relations, but the accumulation of such incidents does tend to lead in that direction."

Another academic who specializes in international affairs, Italo Luongo, said the suspension of cooperation with the DEA "is just another piece of microphone diplomacy, but the situation is rapidly destroying all of the ties between the two governments."

In a televised interview, Brownfield said the United States would not cut off ties.

Rangel also stated that "Venezuela isn't planning to break off relations either. This should be clearly understood."

On a tour that took him to Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil last week, Chavez told reporters in Montevideo that "the Venezuelan government has no intention of creating a scenario of continual confrontation with the U.S. government. That does not form part of Venezuela's foreign policy.

The political and ideological differences between the Venezuelan and U.S. governments should not be blown out of proportion, and should not be mixed up with commercial ties," he added.

Venezuela ships 1.5 million barrels a day of oil to the United States, accounting for 15 percent of that country's oil imports.

Romero pointed out that the U.S. Congress is studying possible measures to help make the United States less reliant on oil from Venezuela, the U.S. market's fourth-largest supplier.