New Delhi: Denouncing the United States in the strongest terms, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez on Saturday alleged that the Bush administration was hatching a conspiracy to assassinate him.
''A plan's being made in the US to assassinate me... if anything happens to me, the man responsible for it will be the US President,'' he said at a press conference in New Delhi.

The Left-wing Venezuelan leader was, however, confident that the Bush regime would fail to cause any harm to him. "This potential attack will also fail like the coup attempt against me three years ago," said the leader of the fifth largest oil exporter in the world.

He charged the Bush administration with launching a "systematic aggression" not only against the Venezuelan government but also against the dignity of the people of his country. "This must be rejected like the aggression against Iraq and Cuba has been rejected by the world," he added.

The Venezuela President, who appeared in a combative mood, said the US was also trying to "demonise" the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which Venezuela is a leading member.

Describing the US military in Iraq as an "occupation force", Chavez narrated to the media how these forces had "murdered and tortured" innocent Iraqis in Fallujah.

"They (Bush administration) simply don't care about the lives of the people. A government so powerful looked for lame excuses to attack Iraq. Where are the weapons of mass destruction? They don't give a damn to the world. The world is in serious trouble as long as this regime is there,'' he said.

Chavez, however, made it clear that he had nothing against the American people, with whom Venezuela had enjoyed long-standing cultural and social ties. "Our problem is with the US government," he added.