May 9, 200620 yr Venezuelan President warns against US Navy in Caribbean 2006-05-08 21:23:08 CRIENGLISH.com President Hugo Chavez is accusing the US military of trying to threaten Venezuela with naval exercises it is holding in the Caribbean this month. He said that the presence of a US aircraft carrier in the Caribbean Sea, the USS George Washington, wouldn't scare Venezuelans, who are preparing to repel a possible US invasion by training guerrilla-style resistance fighters. "They can sail the Caribbean with their fleet as much as they like. They are not going to threaten us, they are not going to frighten us, we are not frightened of this paper empire. We are free!" The USS George Washington, a nearly 330-metre-long Nimitz-class carrier, was roughly 150 miles north of the Caribbean island of Curacao this weekend as part of naval exercises in the region. Chavez, a former army lieutenant colonel and outspoken critic of US President George W Bush, has frequently warned that the United States could invade to seize control of the South American nation's immense oil and natural gas reserves. Chavez has called on his countrymen to prepare for a conflict by learning to use a firearm and joining the nation's military reserve. US officials have scoffed at the Venezuelan leader's allegations that Washington is plotting to overthrow his government.
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