The leader of a leftwing opposition party on the Dutch island of Curaçao has said the island should shut down its US military base.

The contract with the United States ends next year, and Helmin Wiels, leader of the Pueblo Soberano party, says it should not be renewed. He says he wants to prevent Curaçao from being dragged into what he predicts will be a future war between the US and Venezuela.

The US has a number of military bases in Colombia, and Mr Wiels claims the country is intent on a confrontation with Venezuela’s leftwing President Hugo Chavez. He is concerned that if Curaçao continues to host the US base, Caracas will view the island as enemy territory. “We’re a small country,” he says, “and it’s better for us to keep everyone as a friend.”

Curaçao, in the Netherlands Antilles, lies just 70 kilometres of the Venezuelan coast. The US uses its military base, which opened in 2000, to fly missions to combat drug production in South America.