Chavez says Colombia and U.S. plotting invasion

Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega (L) and first lady Rosario Murillo are welcomed by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez (C) at Miraflores Palace in Caracas January 25, 2008. Leaders of ''ALBA'', which means Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, a trade and cooperation group which aims to provide an alternative to U.S.-backed free trade efforts in Latin America, are gathering this weekend in Caracas.

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday said the government of Colombia was plotting with the United States to attack Venezuela, the same day Colombia hosted U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"I accuse the government of Colombia of plotting a conspiracy, acting as a pawn of the North American empire, of plotting a military provocation against Venezuela," Chavez told reporters at a news conference.

The leftist Chavez has frequently accused the United States of plotting his ouster, and is currently mired in a diplomatic dispute with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that has pushed bilateral relations to their lowest level in years.

"So I see it as very difficult for us to normalize (relations) under these circumstances. Unfortunately, everything suggests things will continue getting worse," he said.

Chavez has frequently said the presence of U.S. troops in Colombia taking part in anti-narcotics operations represents a military threat to Venezuela.

Rice is visiting the pro-Washington Uribe in Colombia to promote a free trade deal with the United States.

Chavez, a close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro, has frequently described free trade deals as efforts by the United States to control smaller countries.

Venezuela withdrew its ambassador to Colombia after Uribe pushed Chavez out of negotiations with a leftist rebel group over the release of hostages.

Chavez later helped secure the release of two women politicians that had been kidnapped by the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, but on Friday he said his conflict with Uribe had made him pessimistic about brokering the release of other hostages.

"(On) the issue of the people in the hands of the FARC, unfortunately, I see the horizon completely dark," he said.

(Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Eric Walsh)