Chavez accuses US of plan against Bolivia

TIWANAKU, Bolivia - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused the US ambassador to Bolivia of trying to stir up military rebellion against his leftist ally Bolivian President Evo Morales.

President Chavez, at the forefront of a leftist shift that is challenging US influence in Latin America, routinely trades insults with Washington, which he blames for a short-lived coup that briefly toppled his own government in 2002.

"The (US) embassy in Bolivia is already whispering in the ears of the Bolivian military to turn them against the government of Evo Morales," President Chavez said.

"There's a plan against Bolivia, and the US ambassador in Bolivia is the head of this plan."

President Chavez made the comments during his weekly Venezuelan television show, broadcast from the pre-Inca ruins of Tiwanaku, in Bolivia's Andean plateau.

No one at the US Embassy in La Paz was immediately available to comment on President Chavez's accusation against Ambassador David Greenlee.

President Chavez made similar comments earlier in his visit to Bolivia but did not point the finger at Greenlee.

President Morales, who sat alongside President Chavez in a matching poncho, has also made vague accusations of conspiracies against his government since taking office in January, though he has blamed foreign companies opposed to his nationalisation drive.

President Morales nationalized the impoverished country's energy industry on May 1.

President Chavez signed deals to invest about US$1.5 billion ($2.39 billion) in the natural gas-dominated sector on Friday, as well as a package of financing accords aimed at creating jobs.

It was the latest salvo in a war of words between President Chavez, a self-proclaimed revolutionary and leader of the world's number five oil exporter, and the government of US President George W. Bush.

President Bush said last week he was concerned about "the erosion of democracy" in Venezuela and Bolivia.

The White House has accused President Chavez of being uncooperative in fighting terrorism and of promoting instability in the region.

"Gringo go home," President Chavez, a former paratrooper, said during the broadcast on Sunday, local time.

He said the US government was willing to pay soldiers to turn them against the Morales government.

Presidents Chavez and Morales are close allies and, with Cuban President Fidel Castro, have formed a leftist alliance that aims to counter what they call US political and economic hegemony in Latin America.

President Morales, elected on pledges to nationalise the country's energy industry, often makes anti-US comments in his speeches.

But his government has reiterated its commitment to work with the United States on issues such as fighting drugs.

President Chavez, who is running for re-election in December and seeks greater regional integration, has used his country's oil riches to give neighbors cut-rate energy deals and buy their debt.

- REUTERS