Chavez hardens tone in dispute with Colombia
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hardened his tone on Saturday in a diplomatic dispute with Colombia, which he accuses of plotting an invasion, and warned any attack would be met with force.
Chavez, a former soldier, repeated a claim that Colombia was planning to invade neighboring Venezuela and said he would soon test the firepower of Russian-built fighter jets.
"We don't want to hurt anybody, but don't make mistakes with us," he said during an address to the country to mark nine years since he took office. "They would regret it for 100 years."
Chavez is in a diplomatic dispute with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that has dragged bilateral relations to their lowest level in years. Last week, he accused his neighbor of plotting with the United States to launch an attack.
The U.S. State Department has denied the existence of a plot to invade Venezuela.
On Saturday, he toughened his tone, saying his army was trained and warning he would soon test the weaponry of a fleet of 24 Russian Sukhoi fighter jets he bought in 2006.
"Don't even think about it, Colombian oligarchs, you would run into the soldiers of Bolivar," he said. "Soon we will fire the Sukhoi. I want to go to the first launch. The Sukhoi missile travels 200 kilometers (124 miles)."
An independence hero who liberated Venezuela and Colombia from the Spanish, Simon Bolivar is a major influence on Chavez, who has named numerous institutions after him.
Chavez has said the presence of U.S. troops in Colombia on anti-narcotics operations represents a military threat to Venezuela. He also accuses the United States of participating in a brief 2002 coup against him.
Venezuela withdrew its ambassador to Colombia after Uribe pushed Chavez out of negotiations with a leftist rebel group over the release of hostages held by Marxist rebels.
Chavez later helped secure the release of two female politicians that had been kidnapped by the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. He says his conflict with Uribe had made him pessimistic about winning the release of other hostages.
A large anti-FARC march is expected in Colombia next week, with smaller marches planned in Venezuela and other Latin American countries.
(Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Peter Cooney)
