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.

US officials reject claims that Washington is considering a military attack. But the US government has expressed concern over what it perceives as a significant arms build-up here.

Mr Chavez — a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro — told soldiers Washington was trying to weaken Venezuelan society, including the armed forces, without resorting to combat.

“It’s not just armed warfare,” he said. “I’m also referring to psychological warfare, media warfare, political warfare, economic warfare.”

Venezuela has recently purchased $3 billion (€2.2bn) worth of arms from Russia, including 53 military helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles.