Venezuela’s Chavez urges troops to prepare for guerilla war with US

VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez has urged soldiers to prepare for a guerrilla-style war against the United States, saying Washington is using psychological and economic warfare as part of an unconventional campaign aimed at derailing his government.

Mr Chavez spoke inside Tiuna Fort — Venezuela’s military nerve-centre — before uniformed soldiers standing alongside armoured vehicles and tanks decorated with banners reading: “Fatherland, socialism, or death! We will triumph!”

“We must continue developing the resistance war, that’s the anti-imperialist weapon. We must think and prepare for the resistance war everyday,” said Mr Chavez, who has repeatedly warned that US soldiers could invade Venezuela to seize control of the nation’s immense oil reserves.