It was the U.S. government's fault that a new Venezuelan-U.S. anti-drug agreement had been delayed, Venezuela's Justice and Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

It added that Venezuela had returned the document under discussion to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

In mid-2005, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez suspended the previous anti-drug agreement, saying DEA agents had been implicated in "intelligence infiltration" which threatened Venezuela's security.

Neither the United States nor Venezuela has specified what changes must be made to the new deal to replace the suspended agreement.

Jesse Chacon, Venezuela's interior minister, said it would be continuously difficult to close the deal if the DEA keeps changing its terms.

"The delay is for them, not us," he added.

Washington press reports said the DEA has already approved a budget of nearly 8 million U.S. dollars to fight drug trafficking in Venezuela even though the deal has not been finalized.

Source: Xinhua