Venezuelan war games amp up

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THE chaos of armed conflict rattled Venezuela's run-down harbour area this week as troops and residents practiced resisting a potential invasion that President Hugo Chavez says the White House has planned. Mock foreign aggressors in Engesa tanks trundled past wrecked houses near the Caribbean coast, only to be greeted by an ambush of "resistance" fighters unleashing a barrage of gunfire and explosions that echoed through the neighbourhood.

Soldiers playing rebels armed with rifles and a rocket launcher dodged between wrecked houses as the invaders carpeted the muddy ground with blank shell casings. Tanks - some flying skull and cross bones flags - filled the air with booming cannon fire. Ten minutes later the simulated assault was over. "We're creating a doctrine so there is better preparation between the troops and the people in case of an invasion or whatever else," said Marine Lt. Jose Pinto, wearing a Chicago Bulls basketball team T-shirt and a grenade on his belt.

Mr Chavez has ordered his armed forces and civilian reservists to prepare for a guerrilla war against US forces which he says are seeking to control Venezuela's vast oil reserves. This year he acquired new Russian-made Kalashnikov rifles and attack helicopters, and he is seeking Russian jets after US officials banned sales of US hardware as ties between Washington and Caracas frayed.

Since his 1998 election, Mr Chavez has moved Venezuela away from its traditional political reliance on the United States. He has ended US military cooperation and this year expelled a US naval attache he accused of spying. Washington portrays Mr Chavez, an ally of the long-time US foe Cuba, as a threat to regional stability and US officials dismiss his invasion talk as bluster from an authoritarian leader trying to whip up supporters before elections in December.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19425212-1702,00.html

[Vidar]

1. Seems like a good idea