President Hugo Chavez Warns of US Plan to Divide Venezuela

President Hugo Chavez warned today of a separatist plan orchestrated by the United States to take control of natural and other economic resources in several states in the west of Venezuela. “To be united is our best emblem. We must be alert to the attempts made by counterrevolutionary forces to promote division in this country,” pointed out Chavez at a political rally with Socialist Party members in the state of Zulia. “We are in Maracaibo, land of liberators and natural resources, but this is also the epicenter of a separatist plan orchestrated by Washington,” the president said. “Now,” pointed out Chavez, “the oligarchy and the counterrevolutionaries want to extend those manoeuvres to other departments, such as Merida, Apure and Falcon, in order to create a so-called divisionist chain.” “If the fascist counterrevolutionaries manage to win provincial governments in these regions, let’s say in Tachira, Merida or Zulia, then 2009 will be a year of war and great battles,” stressed Chavez. According to recent statements by party leaders, the national leadership of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) is ready to confront any separatist attempt aimed at separating the state of Zulia from the rest of the country.