President Hugo Chavez accused Wednesday the U.S. of violating Venezuela's airspace to conduct spying, warning that such a move would not be tolerated.
"They are doing espionage, even testing our reaction capability," Chavez told his cabinet members at a televised meeting. "In this case, the (U.S.) plane left, but (our) Sukhoi planes were turning on their engines. Venezuela must be respected."
The Chavez-led government said radars had detected a U.S. military plane Saturday near Venezuela's Caribbean island of La Orchila, which hosts a military base and one of Chavez's residences.
Washington confirmed the event on Monday, but stressed that the aircraft "unintentionally enters the sovereign airspace of another nation" and that the aircraft was a anti-drug plane.
Chavez rejected the U.S. explanation as a "lie," saying Saturday's violation of Venezuelan airspace is the fourth time since the beginning of this year carried out by the Bush administration.
"La Orchila is a prohibited site even for the civil aviation, and all the pilots over the world have been noticed by their aviation charts," Chavez added.
Despite the fact that Venezuela provides the United States withalmost 15 percent of its crude imports, tensions between the two countries have risen in recent years over almost everything from energy policy and arms sales to ties with Cuba and Iran.
Source:Xinhua
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