US soldiers at the heart of conflict between Uribe and Chavez - slide show

The friction between Colombia and Venezuela may have started with Chavez' support of FARC, though the Venezuelan president denies it, but it certainly does not end there. We have seen Mr. Chavez, on his own TV Show, and in clips shown on al-Jazeera and other cable networks making threats about 'war' and sending 'troops' to the border because of the Colombian threat.

What Colombian threat? Colombian President Uribe has entered into an agreement with the United States to allow 800 U.S. soldiers and 600 civilian contractors from the Pentagon or U.S. security organizations for 10 years at Colombian bases. The move is touted as a joint effort at combatting the drug trafficking and terrorism in South America. But Chavez is worried. So is Lula.

Worried about renewed active engagement of the U.S. in a continent that Chavez wanted to make his own by expanding his doctrine to other countries, buying them off with his oil rich reserves, and ensuring that the socialist autocracy spread to neighboring countries in the region. So far, he has succeeded in Boliva and Ecuador with his model, but ran up against the wall in Honduras, when the public protested against a consitutional amendment proposed by deposed President Zelaya which would give him Chavez-like powers.