it's the North American empire," Chavez said

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia will not be provoked into armed conflict with Venezuela despite its neighbor's aggressive rhetoric and dynamiting of two border bridges, Colombia's defense minister said on Friday. Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez this month ordered his army to prepare for war after Colombia signed a military cooperation pact with Washington allowing U.S. troops greater access to its territory to run anti-narcotics surveillance flights. Chavez says the agreement could set the stage for a U.S. invasion of oil-rich Venezuela, a claim that Washington and Bogota dismiss. He calls Colombian President Alvaro Uribe "a traitor" to the region for signing the deal. "I would go to war with Colombia in tears, but it is not in our hands to do it or not to do it. It's not even Colombia, it's the North American empire," Chavez said at a meeting of leftist parties on Friday. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=9136875