United States spying on Venezuela, says Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is convinced that the United States -- his nemesis -- is spying on the lefty Latin American nation.

Chavez claims that a U.S. Navy plane that flew into Venezuelan airspace on Saturday night (Los Angeles Times report here) during a purported anti-drug mission was actually involved in reconnaissance. Venezuela's defense minister denounced the incident as "another link in the chain of provocations" by the U.S. against the Venezuelan government.

"They are spying, even testing our capacity to react," Chavez said in a televised speech. "We are not going to allow the violation of our sovereignty." Miami Herald.

The U.S. State Department has described the event as an "error" that the U.S. pilot quickly corrected. Tensions between Washington and Caracas have risen lately over U.S. allegations that Venezuela has supported FARC guerrillas battling in neighboring Colombia, and U.S. discussion of adding Venezuela to a list of terrorism-sponsoring nations.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Comments

[Benjamin]

We don't need to send a low flying Naval plane to spy on him. We have satellites, high flying stealth spy planes, and unmanned reconnaissance planes, all equipped with photographic equipment so powerful, that they can pick out the poop stains in Chavez's pants from space.

This is just more "look at me, give me attention, I'm important!" from the international attention whore in Venezuela.