CAFTA called a 'perverse' U.S. initiative

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticized a trade agreement that eliminates barriers between the United States and Central American countries, saying Sunday it is a misguided deal that will harm the region's small economies.

Chavez, a frequent critic of the U.S. government, also said he had read reports of President Bush "putting money in circulation to buy votes and to blackmail, through the so-called (U.S.) intelligence agencies, to approve an initiative which is perverse."

Chavez did not give other details of his source or the claims, which have been made by some opponents of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. The House of Representatives narrowly approved the agreement Thursday in a 217-215 vote, four weeks after the Senate backed the measure.

The trade deal eliminates barriers between the United States and Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Chavez says that is the wrong strategy for small countries with a history of domination by the United States.

"It would harm the economies and societies much more in our sister Central America," Chavez said during his weekly television and radio show.

Chavez also responded to criticism by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who has said Venezuela's government lobbied against the trade deal.

"I wouldn't do it because it's not up to me," Chavez said. "It's up to Central American fighters" to oppose such measures.

Along with his close ally Fidel Castro of Cuba, Chavez has sought to promote a socialist-based trade initiative called the "Bolivarian Alternative."

So far details of that alternative have yet to be clearly defined, but Chavez's government is offering oil sales under preferential terms to countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Venezuela is the world's No. 5 oil exporter, and its top client remains the United States.

Chavez, a leftist former army paratrooper who has pledged a "revolution" for Venezuela's poor, has accused the U.S. government of backing plots to overthrow him, and even considering military action against Venezuela. U.S. officials have denied the accusations as ridiculous.

"Here every man, every woman, no matter the age, should be ready to defend this revolution with his or her life," against external or internal threat, Chavez said.