North-South tensions: Chavez -- allies defend his government from accusations as new ones appear

Caracas Daily Journal (Vincent Bevins): As they are wont to in this hemisphere, tensions are flaring up between the United States and its allies and the allies of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

This time, ALBA members had not finished responding to claims from the U.S. that Venezuela and Cuba were negative influences on them when a Bush-allied government in El Salvador announced they would investigate if Venezuela had funded leftist groups in their country.

The documents which indicate they might have done so came from the United States. Vice-chancellor Eduardo Cálix announced that an investigation would be opened into supposed funds channelled from Venezuela into the campaign coffers of the FMLN (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional) in 2009.

President Antonio Saca received the document from the U.S. director of national intelligence, J. Michael McConnel, in a visit to the U.S. this week. The FMLN has denied these charges vehemently. El Salvador is the only Latin American country which still has troops stationed in Iraq.

Also coming from the United States were statements from former presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. At his resignation speech, he said that the U.S. needed to work to stop being held "hostage" by Chávez. He also linked Chávez to other putative evil global kidnappers Putin and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

• The "Venezuela issue" is likely to become increasingly politicized in the United States during this election year.

Meanwhile, Bolivian officials were still reeling from being characterized by U.S. intelligence agencies earlier this week as the victim of "negative influence" from Venezuela and Cuba. They expressed surprise on Thursday. "I don't know where this information comes from or where they got it," said Bolivian foreign minister David Choquehuanca. "The Bolivian people know what the relationship between Cuba, Bolivia and Venezuela is."

The government of Hugo Chávez had chosen earlier this week not to respond with surprise, but with angry denunciations. They chose to reiterate claims that the United States is the most negative force in the region, and that they are collaborating with Colombia to organize military action against the Bolivarian republic.

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, who was listed as under lesser influence from the United States, came to the defense of this theory Thursday, as well as Chávez' project in the region in general. He said that Chávez is "a president that is very human, in solidarity, with a great integrationist vision, who enjoys a great economic moment due to oil -- and is trying to help his brother countries in the region."

He also said that it is not unreasonable to suspect intervention from the United States in Venezuela, since they have already done just that so openly. And as for Colombia, he said he himself would like to fortify his border with the Bush-aligned country.