Cuba, Venezuela would fight attack as one: Chavez Fri Jul 8,10:27 PM ET
Any "imperialist" attack against either Cuba or Venezuela would be resisted by
both nations as one, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Friday in an
apparent reference to the United States.
Chavez routinely condemns the United States as a hostile "imperialist" power
he says is bent on invading Venezuela to seize its oil wealth and topple or
kill him, a charge U.S. officials reject as ridiculous.
"The Cuban and Venezuelan peoples and revolutions are one and the same," the
left-wing leader said during a ceremony at which he awarded decorations to
more than 90 Cuban teachers who had worked in a Venezuelan literacy program.
"The world should know, in case there's anyone out there who hasn't realized
it yet ... that any imperialist attack against one of us will be an attack
against both," he said.
The United States remains the single biggest oil client of Venezuela,
receiving around 15 percent of its oil imports from the world's No. 5 oil
exporter.
But President Bush's administration often criticizes Chavez's close alliance
with Cuban President Fidel Castro, who also regularly warns his people to be
alert for the threat of attack by the United States. Washington maintains
trade sanctions against Communist-ruled Cuba.
U.S. officials have accused Chavez and Castro of joining forces to stir up
anti-U.S. revolution in Latin America.
