Financial Times
Chávez enlists troops in '100 years of war'
Nov 10--Colombia has appealed to the international community to intervene after Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, raised the spectre of war between the Andean neighbours.
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"The best way of avoiding war is to prepare for it," Mr Chávez told military commanders during Aló Presidente, his Sunday television show, urging them not to waste a single day. "If you want peace, you have to be prepared for war."
Venezuela's incendiary leader was reacting to concerns over a deal between Bogotá and Washington that permits US military access to seven Colombian bases.
Mr Chávez has said the deal could lead to an invasion of his country, which has some of the largest oil reserves in the world.
The US and Colombia reject Mr Chávez's concerns, saying the deal is intended to clamp down on drug traffickers and Marxist guerrillas.
US diplomats, who argue that Mr Chávez's international influence has waned in line with a decline in oil prices, have played down the significance of the Venezuelan leader's aggressive rhetoric rather than be drawn into a fight with Caracas.
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