CARACAS - Long-standing tension between Caracas and Washington flared anew when President Hugo Chavez, fighting for his job in a recall vote, said US President George W. Bush -- not the Venezuelan opposition -- was his true political foe.

Chavez faces a recall election August 15 that could unseat him.

"Hugo Chavez and George W. Bush will face off in the August 15 referendum," Chavez told supporters. "That is the real confrontation."

He said Venezuela's political battle would play out between the US president, "who wants to take over this country, and myself, who is prepared to do whatever is necessary to defend the country.

"The fight is not between Chavez and" the opposition," he said. "It's between Chavez and Bush. That's the choice."

If 3.75 million voters -- the number who voted for Chavez in 2000 -- vote against him August 15, he will have to step down and a new presidential election will be held.

Chavez, a leftist-populist ex-paratrooper, was ousted in April 2002 in a short-lived military coup that visibly pleased the United States, which quickly moved to recognize and deal with the new transitional government of opposition business and political leaders.

But the coup fell apart within 48 hours and Chavez was returned to power after his old army unit rallied other military companies to his defense.

Though Washington insisted it had no part in or advance knowledge of the coup, Chavez' government has repeatedly accused the United States of meddling in its politics and instigating the rebellion, as well as a lengthy general strike in late 2002 and early 2003 that shut down the country's oil industry.

Venezuela is a key US oil supplier.

"The Bush administration was alone in the world when it endorsed the overthrow of my government in 2002," Chavez said recently. "It is my hope that this time the Bush administration will respect our republican democracy."

© Copyright 2004 AFP

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