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Chavez warns of poll sabotage plan

CARACAS (Venezuela): Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said security agencies were on alert and warned that Opposition groups boycotting congressional elections were planning violent acts to disrupt balloting. Mr. Chavez accused Washington of supporting the alleged ``electoral sabotage'' plot and persuading Opposition parties to boycott Sunday's vote. Seizures by federal authorities earlier on Friday of C-4 explosives, molotov cocktails and ``other materials for provoking violence'' during raids in central and western Venezuela were proof that of the plan, Mr. Chavez said. He did not provide details of the raids. The Opposition's decision to pull out of elections, coupled with accusations by Mr. Chavez of U.S. President George W. Bush's involvement in the alleged conspiracy, has fuelled growing diplomatic and domestic confrontations. Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel called the Opposition pullout a ``transnational decision'' aimed at the political destabilisation of Venezuela. U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey denied that, telling CNN en Espanol: ``We are not involved in the decisions of the Venezuelan people or the political parties there.'' The U.S. Government has expressed concerns about democracy in Venezuela and accused Mr. Chavez of being a destabilising force in South America. Mr. Casey said those concerns were ``very clear and well-known'' but denied they had prompted Washington to get involved in Venezuela's elections. Venezuela's two biggest Opposition parties also denied any links. ``The United States, as usual, has become the suspect for everything,'' said Justice First leader Julio Borges. He called it a ``gigantic excuse'' to divert public attention from the country's problems. Pro-Chavez lawmakers currently hold 86 seats in the 165-member National Assembly and aim to win a two-thirds majority. — AP

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