Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has summoned the Venezuelan ambassador in order to obtain an explanation of statements made by President Hugo Chávez.

Speaking in Copenhagen the Venezuelan president said that the Netherlands is colluding with the United States. The Dutch were specifically accused of giving the US permission to take warships, secret agents and spy planes to the Dutch Antilles islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. The islands, being close to the continent, would be used for a US attack on Venezuela, Mr Chávez suggested.

Minister Verhagen flatly denies that there is any aggression plot against Venezuela, and the country is aware of that, he said. The Dutch foreign minister reiterated that the Kingdom of the Netherlands attaches great importance to having good ties with Venezuela. Mr Verhagen said that unfounded statements have no place in such a relationship.

President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela (ANP EPA Photo)