Chavez denies reported U.S. allegations of Islamic terrorist activity in Venezuela - Americas - International Herald Tribune

Chavez denies reported U.S. allegations of Islamic terrorist activity in Venezuela - Americas - International Herald Tribune: "
CARACAS, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday denied accusations attributed to a U.S. military officer that a popular tourist destination off Venezuela's coast has become a refuge for Islamic terrorists.

Chavez referred in a televised speech to a recent article in the Colombian magazine Revista Poder, which quoted Gen. Bantz J. Craddock of the U.S. Southern Command as saying there were indications of 'extremist contacts' on Margarita Island, a popular beach getaway northeast of Caracas.

Chavez denied such terrorist activity and called the comments part of a U.S. plan 'to justify any type of aggression against our country.'

Calling Craddock an 'imperialist general,' Chavez said, 'it's a lie that in Margarita there are Arab terrorists and that Margarita and Venezuela are a nest of Arab terrorism.'

Craddock, like other Washington officials, has previously referred to Chavez's government as a 'destabilizing' force in the region and criticized Venezuela's recent arms purchases.

Chavez, a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro and sharp U.S. critic, accuses Washington of harboring plans to undermine his government, which U.S. officials deny.

CARACAS, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday denied accusations attributed to a U.S. military officer that a popular tourist destination off Venezuela's coast has become a refuge for Islamic terrorists.

Chavez referred in a televised speech to a recent article in the Colombian magazine Revista Poder, which quoted Gen. Bantz J. Craddock of the U.S. Southern Command as saying there were indications of 'extremist contacts' on Margarita Island, a popular"