Chavez threatens break with Colombia

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday he was preparing to break off diplomatic relations with Colombia in an escalating dispute over Bogota's decision to grant the U.S. military access to Colombian bases.

"We have to prepare the rupture of relations with Colombia, Nicolas. This is going to happen," Chavez told his foreign minister, Nicolas Maduro in a state television broadcast.

Chavez is furious at a U.S.-Colombian security agreement that will allow the U.S. military access to seven of its bases to tackle drug trafficking and leftist guerrillas.

Chavez views the increased American military presence in Colombia as an attempt to surround and isolate his leftist government and has warned tat the build-up of troops could lead to war in South America.

Both Washington and Bogota have denied they are targeting Venezuela and maintain that the maximum number of U.S. soldiers allowed on Colombian soil remains capped at 800 as before.

However, Chavez's concerns have found support with more moderate Latin American governments, including regional heavyweight Brazil.

His threat to cut ties with Colombia came before a regional summit in Bariloche, Argentina on Friday, where South American leaders will discuss the U.S.-Colombian security arrangement.

The two Andean countries share a $7 billion a year trade relationship, but Chavez has vowed to shift Venezuela's purchases to Argentina and other nations it considers allies.

Chavez has often clashed with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Washington's closest ally in the region, and although past differences have been normally resolved quickly, tensions seem deeper this time.

Chavez withdrew his ambassador to Bogota earlier in the month only to send him back a few days later. Colombia's characterization on Monday of Venezuelan criticism of its policies as meddling has reignited the dispute.

The furore has also tarnished the goodwill won by U.S. President Barack Obama in the region after his attempts to reach out to Chavez and other U.S. critics earlier this year.

U.S. officials have sought to downplay the importance of the basing agreement, arguing that their objective is to replace anti-drug surveillance capacity that will be lost because the Chavez-friendly government in Ecuador ended U.S. access to its air base at Manta on the Pacific Coast.

(Additional reporting by Frank Jack Daniel, editing by Anthony Boadle)

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