Caracas
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez last week accused the Bush administration of plotting to overthrow him, and kicked dozens of U.S. advisors off his country’s military bases. Chavez said that 100 Colombian paramilitaries captured recently in the Venezuelan jungle were part of the coup plot, and announced a program to train militias to defend against invasion. Chavez claimed the U.S. was after Venezuela’s oil. But political rivals said Chavez was orchestrating a “media show” to divert attention from a popular campaign to oust him with a recall referendum. Bush administration officials called Chavez’s charges “irresponsible.”
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