BOGOTA (AFP) — The United States has no itention of attacking Venezuela or interfering in its internal affairs, US Ambassador to Colombia William Brownfield said Tuesday in reponse to charges made last month by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
"I can't speak for other governments in the world, but I can guarantee that the United States government has no intention, no plan and absolutely no expectation of invading, attacking or interfering in the affairs of any other country in the region," he told reporters.
Brownfield was responding to comments made by Chavez during a regional summit in late January that "the US empire is creating conditions to generate an armed conflict between Colombia and Venezuela."
Without mentioning Colombia directly, Brownfield also said he had found "no evidence and absolute zero intention that any other government in the region" was plotting against Venezuela.
"Of that I'm absolutely certain," added the ambassador, who spoke in Spanish.
Brownfield, who met in the Caribbean port city of Cartagena with members of the US Peace Corps, did not respond to Chavez's comment that Venezuela bordered on the east not with Colombia but with a leftist rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
Chavez has angered Colombia by appearing to legitimize the group's cause.
The US ambassador, however, said that over the past 10 years, Colombia had made significant strides against FARC guerrillas.
"It's a good sign of how we see the situation in Colombia," he said. "Now our employees can visit any part of Colombia without having to ask permission from those 'distinguished' gentlemen of the FARC."
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