Chávez accuses Colombia of trying to provoke war

CARACAS - President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela on Sunday accused Colombia of seeking to provoke war, renewing regional tensions after a Colombian attack on a rebel camp in Ecuador sparked the worst Andes diplomatic crisis in a decade.

The accusations could aggravate an Andean region schism between anti-US leftists governments in Ecuador and Venezuela and rightist President Álvaro Uribe of Colombia. Uribe is a Washington ally whose country has received billions of dollars in US aid.

Chávez's statements came days after US officials renewed accusations that Chávez has aided Marxist rebels, based on files from the laptop computer of a slain rebel commander.

"The government of Colombia is capable of provoking a war with Venezuela to justify the intervention of the United States," said Chávez, lambasting Uribe during his weekly Sunday broadcast as a "liar" and leader of a "narco-government."

In March, Colombia attacked a rebel camp in Ecuador, killing rebel commander Raul Reyes and sparking a regional diplomatic crisis as Ecuador and Venezuela moved troops to their border with Colombia.

Latin American leaders negotiated an end to the crisis, but President Rafael Correa of Ecuador has maintained a bitter war of words with Colombia and has not fully restored ties.

Unnamed US officials last week told various media that they determined Chávez's ties to the rebel group were more extensive than they originally thought after reviewing unpublished files on the computer of Reyes.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the files indicate Venezuela offered to arm the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and sought guerrilla warfare training, possibly to prepare for an invasion Chávez says Washington is plotting.

Chávez yesterday dismissed the charges, calling Colombian officials "imbeciles" incapable of producing serious evidence against him.