For Venezuela's Chavez, best defence is attack

By Saul Hudson - Analysis

CARACAS (Reuters) - For Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the best form of defence is attack, meaning that when he appears in trouble he takes aim at the superpower that needs his oil.

On Thursday, the ex-tank division soldier expelled Washington's ambassador, cut back U.S. flights to Venezuela and threatened to stop selling oil to the United States, plunging ties to their lowest point in years.

It was classic Chavez.

Assailed in the United States where a corruption cover-up scandal lapped against him this week and facing elections at home where he risks losing his grip on regional power centres, he took the offensive and escalated a spat into a crisis.

Chavez, one of America's biggest oil suppliers, lashed out at the United States on September 11, the seventh anniversary of al Qaeda's attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon.

A day later, Washington ejected his ambassador and imposed sanctions on some of his top aides. It showed how quickly the man who calls ex-Cuban leader Fidel Castro his mentor can draw the Bush administration into a fight and distract voters.

His order for American Airlines, Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines to cut flights was also typical Chavez strategy. He shifted a diplomatic dispute into a conflict that hurts U.S. companies.

He has done the same against banks and food exporters in disputes with Spain and Colombia over the past year.