Venezuela slams US senator over attack on Chavez

Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel on Monday slammed US Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, who branded Hugo Chavez's government as "hostile and unfriendly."

Nelson, who visited Venezuela last week, said the United States had to view Chavez's government as hostile for having alleged tieswith Colombian guerrillas.

The US senator said he got this information from "intelligence agencies."

As regards this allegation, Rangel questioned the credibility of the US intelligence agencies, saying: "They were the same that did not manage to detect the mortal attack against the Twin Towers in New York City, and were the same that made up the fantasies over the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."

Rangel added they should "apply a lie detector to all the visitors to the country" to avoid new comments like Nelson's, because "it must not be played with Venezuela's name."

President Chavez accuses the United States of backing opposition attempts to end his rule in the oil-rich country.

Source: Xinhua