Chavez expels US military official accused of spying

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has expelled a US Embassy military attache after authorities accused him of espionage for trying to persuade Venezuelan officers to hand over state secrets.

The expulsion worsens already rocky relations between the United States and the world's No. 5 oil exporter, as Chavez aggressively promotes his socialist revolution to counter US influence in South America.

"We have decided to declare persona non grata, or as we say here, to throw out of the country, a military officer in the US mission because of espionage," Chavez said during a ceremony to celebrate seven years in power.

"We have declared persona non grata US naval Captain John Correa, who must leave the country immediately," he said.

Chavez, a former army officer allied to Cuban President Fidel Castro and Iran, warned he could expel the full US military mission if any officers were caught spying.

US officials in Washington rejected the espionage charges.

"We will respond through diplomatic channels," US State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said, referring to a January 30 letter the United States received about Correa.

"None of the US attaches was or is engaged in inappropriate activities."

US officials brand the leftist leader an authoritarian bully at home and a threat to regional stability for using Venezuela's oil wealth to meddle in the politics of his South American neighbours.

Chavez often calls US President George W Bush "Mr Danger" and has repeatedly accused Washington of trying to overthrow his government since he survived a 2002 coup.

Flush with oil cash, Chavez has promoted himself as the frontman for a burgeoning left-wing resurgence in South America, where Evo Morales become Bolivia's first indigenous president on the back of popular resistance to US-backed policies.

In Washington, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had harsh words for Chavez but did not specifically address the expulsion.

"He's a person who was elected legally, just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally and then consolidated power, and now is of course working closely with Fidel Castro and Mr Morales and others. It concerns me," he said at the National Press Club.

Venezuelan authorities said last week they had "confidential evidence" that US Embassy staff were involved with a group of Venezuelan military officers accused of passing state secrets to the US Defence Department.

Chavez had already downgraded military cooperation with the United States and suspended accords with the US Drug Enforcement Administration after accusing its agents of spying on his government.

Since his first election in 1998, Chavez has sought out trade and energy alliances with Iran, Russia, China and South American nations to break Venezuela's traditional reliance on the United States. Caracas still supplies about 15 per cent of US petroleum imports.

Caracas and Washington recently sparred over US attempts to block Spanish and Brazilian military equipment to Venezuela after accusing Chavez of becoming a destabilising influence in the region. Chavez has said he could turn instead to China or Russia for arms deals.

- REUTERS