Chavez: Detente With U.S. 'Impossible'

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday that reconciliation with Washington was impossible and threatened again to cut off oil shipments to the United States if it supports any effort to oust him.

He said a thirst for oil motivated both the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and a failed 2002 coup against him. Chavez has often accused the United States of being behind the coup, and Washington has repeatedly denied the allegation.

"There is no possibility of understanding for our revolution with the government of the United States, with U.S. imperialism," Chavez said during a news conference to mark the fifth anniversary of his return to power two days after the coup.

Chavez also said that the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks were "a gift for (President) Bush" because they enabled him to wage war.

He did say "coexistence" was possible, but warned: "If there were another aggression against us, there wouldn't be another drop of oil for the United States ... We're prepared for it."

Venezuela was the fourth-largest supplier of crude oil to the United States last year despite the antagonism between the former paratroop commander and the Bush administration.

Chavez alleged that Pedro Carmona, who briefly replaced him during the 2002 coup, tried to have him killed in a faked accident.

"There are witnesses that say Pedro Carmona Estanga issued an order from the presidential palace to kill me ... but to make it look like an accident, and he had just received a call from Washington," Chavez said at the news conference. "The order to get rid of me came from Washington."
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