CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez dared the U.S. on Friday to put Venezuela on a list of countries accused of supporting terrorism, calling it one more attempt by Washington to undermine him for political reasons. Chavez said the "threat to include us on the terrorist list" is Washington's response to his own successes in the region.
U.S. lawmakers including Rep. Connie Mack and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, both Florida Republicans, have called for the State Department to add Venezuela to its list of terror sponsors, which currently includes North Korea, Iran, Syria, Sudan and Cuba. They have expressed concerns about what they call Chavez's close ties to Colombia's leftist rebels.
"Let them make that list and shove it in their pocket," Chavez said in a televised speech.
"We shouldn't forget for an instant that we're in a battle against North American imperialism and that they have classified us as enemies — at least in this continent they have us as enemy No. 1," Chavez said.
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