WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is considering punishing
Venezuela with sanctions for breaking off work with U.S. anti-drug agents in the
world's top cocaine-exporting region, the State Department said on
Monday.
In a new blow to fraying ties between the United States and a key oil
supplier, President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday he had suspended cooperation with
the Drug Enforcement Administration because it was unnecessary and accused the
U.S. agency of spying on his government.
"The fears are baseless," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told
reporters. "I think it's pretty clear to us that the motivation for this is not
the accusation itself ... The motivation is an effort to detract from the
government's increasingly deficient record of cooperation."
Chavez said Venezuela would continue to work with international
organizations to combat drug trafficking.
Next month, the State Department must by law judge if Venezuela has
failed to cooperate in the drug war, a decision that could trigger a range of
sanctions including blocking cheap credit for businesses and counternarcotics
aid.
Chavez' suspension decision "would obviously have an impact on
deliberations concerning our annual decision-making process," Ereli
said.
Even before Sunday's decision, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America,
Roger Noriega, had suggested to Congress it would be difficult this year to
certify Venezuela as cooperating in the drug war.
Venezuela, which Washington has sanctioned for failing to combat human
trafficking, would then be blacklisted along with countries such as
Myanmar.
Ereli said Venezuela had already this year severed military-to-military
cooperation and failed to respond to U.S. recommendations in March on how the
countries could improve their joint fight against drug barons.
"Failure to cooperate only benefits narcotraffickers," he
said.
Both countries had agreed until recently to work together in the fight,
but cooperation has been strained by mistrust, corruption and the chilly
relations between Caracas and Washington, foreign security officials
say.
Venezuela is an important transport route for cocaine from neighboring
Colombia -- the world's No. 1 exporter of the drug -- to Europe and the United
States.
Washington, a key client for Venezuelan oil, views Chavez as a threat
to stability in the region. He complains of U.S. interference in the South
American nation.
