Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused the Netherlands on Thursday of allowing the US to use Dutch islands off Venezuela’s Caribbean coast to prepare a possible military attack against his country.
Chavez said the US military has sent intelligence agents, war ships and spy planes to Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire, which are self-governing Dutch islands.
“They are three islands in Venezuela’s territorial waters, but they are still under an imperial regime: the Netherlands,” Chavez said during a speech at a climate change conference in Denmark.
“Europe should know that the North American empire is filling these islands with weapons, assassins, American intelligence units, and spy planes and war ships,” he said.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly denied that US military personnel in the Caribbean are planning to attack Venezuela.
“These allegations are baseless. These are routine exercises. We seek cooperation with the region,” Kelly said.
Chavez did not offer evidence supporting his accusations, but he blamed the Netherlands and said the EU should take a stance.
“I would like to know that the European Union has to say about this,” Chavez said. “The Netherlands is responsible for this.”
Chavez claims it’s part of a broader plan by Washington to undermine leftist governments throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
“It’s a threat to all the people of Latin America and the Caribbean,” Chavez said.
He has repeatedly accused US President Barack Obama’s administration of conspiring with neighboring Colombia to topple his government.
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