http://www.heraldsun.com/nationworld/in ... 20478.html

Chavez Vows to Defend Social 'Revolution'

By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER : Associated Press Writer
Jun 24, 2005 : 8:12 pm ET

CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez told thousands of troops Friday that Venezuelans would defend the nation's social "revolution" with their lives if attacked by a foreign power such as the United States.

Chavez spoke to troops standing at attention while hundreds of demonstrators protested several blocks from the Cuban Embassy in Caracas, burning an effigy of Fidel Castro and saying they rejected Cuba's growing influence in the Venezuelan government.

Dozens of police halted the marchers with barricades one block from the embassy, where the crowd stood chanting "No to communism!" and "Get out, Fidel!"

The demonstration eventually broke up peacefully.

Wearing fatigues and a red beret, Chavez pinned awards on soldiers and announced a pay raise for the troops of between 50-60 percent. He warned that any foreign attackers "would have to face the counteroffensive to throw them off this land, whatever it costs us, no matter how many years it takes, and no matter how much blood is spilled."

"That's how we would face an invasion by the most powerful army in the world," he told the soldiers lined up next to tanks at a military fort.

Chavez has regularly accused the U.S. government of trying to oust him, including in a short-lived 2002 coup. American officials have denied such claims as ridiculous, and the United States remains the No. 1 buyer of Venezuelan oil.

Relations between Caracas and Havana have grown close, with Venezuela selling cheap oil to Cuba and the communist-led island sending thousands of doctors to treat the poor in the South American country.

Friday's protest outside the embassy was organized by the Institutional Military Front, a group headed by ex-military officers opposed to Chavez.