Pubdate: Fri, 08 Dec 2000 Source: Wall Street Journal (US) Copyright: 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Contact: 200 Liberty Street, New York, NY 10281 Fax: (212) 416-2658 Website: http://www.wsj.com/ CHAVEZ DENIES INTERVENTION IN LATIN NEIGHBOR'S AFFAIRS CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Hugo Chavez on Thursday charged there was a smear campaign underway, aided by foreign news media, to link him to Colombia's violent leftist guerrillas and dissidents in the Andes. Recent news reports in Colombia and the United States have accused Mr. Chavez of having contacts with guerrillas in neighboring Colombia and Bolivia, and supporting rebellious army officers in a recent coup in Ecuador. In a three-hour news conference, Mr. Chavez charged the "Colombian oligarchy," along with the news media, of trying to discredit his "Bolivarian revolutionary movement," a pan-American leftist democratic ideology that Mr. Chavez has styled after the ambitions of 19th century South American liberator Simon Bolivar. Mr. Chavez accused news outlets with "connections in Washington and Miami" of demonizing him because he opposes the military component of the "Plan Colombia," a Colombian initiative to eradicate drug crops protected and taxed by the rebels. Washington is slated to contribute $1.3 billion to the plan and U.S.-trained troops using U.S.-made helicopters would try to wrest away rebel-held areas producing cocaine and heroin. Mr. Chavez, who favors a negotiated end to Colombia's 36-year-old civil conflict, asserts the initiative will force rebels, refugees and drug traffickers into neighboring countries. His links to Colombian rebels -- including allowing their leaders to travel and meet in Venezuela -- have upset Colombia, which recently recalled its ambassador for several days to protest. "Let the venomous Colombian oligarchy know that I won't back down," Mr. Chavez responded. The president singled out the Colombian magazine Semana, which reported that a cache of Venezuelan arms was found recently in the hands of rebels and that Venezuelan officers visit the guerrillas inside Colombia. Mr. Chavez said that no Venezuelan weapons have gone to the rebels since he took office in February 1999. Mr. Chavez also denied a report by The Miami Herald that he met in August with Bolivian rebel Felipe Quispe -- shortly before separatist violence there -- and that he gave financial support to Ecuadorean military officers who staged a coup in January. Mr. Chavez said he had asked U.S. Ambassador Donna Hrinak to determine whether comments attributed by the Herald to Mr. Peter Romero, the State Department officer in charge of Latin America, represented official U.S. policy. Mr. Romero was quoted as saying there were "indications of Chavez's government support for violent indigenous groups in Bolivia. In the case of Ecuador, it included support for rebellious army officers." Mr. Chavez called Romero an "international agitator" and said he hopes the next administration in Washington "rectifies these things and doesn't have agitators, professional liars ... as high officials." Bolivian President Hugo Banzer recently approached Mr. Chavez to express "his concern about Chavez's intrusion in the internal affairs of the country," Bolivian Minister of the Presidency Walter Guiteras said. Rebel leader Quispe denied any contact with or support from Mr. Chavez. Former Ecuadorean Col. Lucio Gutierrez, who led the coup that helped topple former President Jamil Mahuad in January, said he admired Mr. Chavez but has never met with him or received financial support. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D