Venezuela dares US to put in terror list
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Hugo Chavez dared theU.S. on Friday to
put Venezuela on a list of countries accused ofsupporting terrorism, calling it
one more attempt by Washington toundermine him for political reasons.


Chavez said the "threat to include us on the terrorist list" is
Washington's response to his government's successes in the region.



U.S. lawmakers including Reps. Connie Mack and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,
both Florida Republicans, have called for the State Department to add
Venezuela to its list of terror sponsors, which includes North Korea,
Iran, Syria, Sudan and Cuba. They have expressed concerns about what
they call Chavez's close ties to Colombia's leftist rebels.


"Let them make that list and shove it in their pocket," Chavez said in a
televised speech.



"We shouldn't forget for an instant that we're in a battle against
North American imperialism," Chavez said. "On this continent, they have
us as enemy No. 1."


Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday during a visit to Brazil
that all U.N. nations, including Venezuela, have an obligation to go after
terrorists and keep them from operating within their borders.
The comment was largely a warning for Chavez,who U.S. officials suspect has
lent support to Colombian rebels. Inrecent days, Rice and President Bush have
sharpened their rhetoricagainst Chavez while praising Colombia and other Latin
American allies.



Chavez said Rice's visit to Brazil and Chile this week is aimed at
mounting "pressures" against "our government and against me."



Chavez also responded to barbs from Bush, who on Wednesday accused
Venezuela of squandering its oil wealth internationally "to promote its
hostile, anti-American vision."


The heated exchanges with the
U.S. came as Chavez and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe pledged to
smooth over differences after their worst-ever diplomatic spat,
provoked by a deadly Colombian attack on a rebel camp in Ecuador.



Chavez said he called Uribe on Thursday in part "because the statements
(against Venezuela) continue," and because the U.S. "keeps trying to
make us fight."


He said he told Uribe he wants to rebuild
relations after the March 1 cross-border strike, which killed 25 people
including a rebel leader.


After Colombia's assault in Ecuador,
Chavez and Ecuadorean leader Rafael Correa sent troops to their
borders. Colombia released documents found on rebel laptops, saying
they link Chavez and Correa's administrations to leftist Colombian
rebels.


Correa on Thursday delivered an angry response to Bush's strong support for
Colombia in the wake of the raid, challenging the U.S. president to send troops
to Ecuador's border with Colombia.



"Bring your soldiers Mr Bush," Correa said in the speech. "Let it be
your soldiers who die along the southern border with Colombia. We'll
see if the Americans, the citizens of the United States, will accept
tremendous atrocity.


"If not, shut your mouth and understand what is happening in Latin America."



Ecuadorean authorities are still angry over the Colombian raid and have
delayed restoring diplomatic relations until at least the end of the
month.


Meanwhile on Friday, three Mexican students in their late
20s were confirmed killed in Ecuador during Colombia's raid on the
rebel camp.


Five Mexicans -- three men and two women -- apparently were at the camp near
the border with Colombia during the attack.



Mexican student Lucia Morett Alvarez, 26, was wounded but survived, and
parents of another missing Mexican woman were awaiting forensic tests.


Fellow students in Mexico have described the victims as activists whosympathized
with Latin America's radical left, which has gained somebacking on college
campuses in Mexico.



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"Everyday I become more convinced, that it is necessary to transcend capitalism
... through socialism, true socialism, with equality and justice." - Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez.

"The free market is perfectly natural — do you think I am some kind of dummy?"
- Jarvis Cocker.





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