Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened Friday to stop oil exports to the United States if violence breaks out after a controversial and hotly contested weekend referendum.
He told thousands of supporters in Caracas that he was sending the army to "protect" all of the country's oil fields ahead of the plebiscite on Sunday aimed at bolstering his power by changing the constitution.
"If 'Operation Pincer' is activated Sunday or Monday, there won't be a drop of oil from Venezuela to the United States," Chavez said, referring to what he has often claimed is a CIA operation to topple him from power.
"If this (referendum) is used as a pretext to start violence in Venezuela, (Energy) Minister (Rafael) Ramirez on Monday will order that oil exports to North America be stopped," he said. "I have ordered the defense minister ... to put in place plans to protect our oil fields and our refineries.
As of this night (Friday), they will be protected by the army," he said. Chavez also deepened a running row with Spain, whose King Juan Carlos recently told him to "shut up," by threatening to nationalize Spanish banks in Venezuela if the monarch did not apologize.
The warnings upped the stakes over the referendum, which polling companies said was too close to call. Chavez, opposition figures and analysts have all said they fear a close result will be viewed with skepticism by the losing side and trigger violence.
Venezuela currently exports around 60 percent of the two million barrels of oil it produces per day to the United States, which relies on the South American nation for 11 percent of its oil needs. Relations between Caracas and Washington have long been tense, but Chavez has raised his strident anti-US rhetoric several notches as he has fought to have his referendum pass.
The 53-year-old leftist leader is facing his biggest-ever challenge at the ballot box over the proposed constitutional reforms. Even Chavist loyalists in Venezuela's myriad urban slums are balking at supporting them.
With the result on a knife-edge, Chavez has taken to calling all opponents to the changes "traitors" and portraying the referendum as a struggle between his "economic socialism" and US "imperialism." "A vote 'yes' is a vote for Chavez -- a vote 'no' is a vote for (US President) George W. Bush," he told the crowd Friday.
Protests against the referendum have gathered strength, culminating Thursday in a huge rally that denounced Chavez's plan as a bid to turn Venezuela into a Cuba-like communist state. The proposed constitutional changes would do away with term limits for the president and lengthen his mandate from six years to seven.
It would also allow the government to censor the media in times of "emergency," and take over the central bank and expropriate property to guarantee food supplies. The fiercely anti-US leader, who has nurtured ties with Iran and China, has repeatedly accused Washington of fomenting resistance to him in the country, without advancing any evidence.
"Venezuela: we will never be a colony of the United States or of anyone -- we are free," he said in his rally speech. The US television network CNN was also attacked in his speech. He claimed it had incited his assassination by putting the caption "Who killed him?" under his images this week, and dismissed the network's apology and explanation that it was an on-air mix-up.
Chavez said he was ready to rule "until 2050" if the people wanted him, and he sent a message to his mentor, Cuba's Fidel Castro, saying, in English: "Fidel, how are you?" An editorial attributed to the Cuban leader on Friday warned that the United States may seek to assassinate Chavez.
Chavez has multiplied diplomatic disputes with other countries. As well as the running feud with Spain, he has said he would refuse to deal any more with Colombia, after its president axed him as mediator in negotiations for a hostage swap with leftist FARC guerrillas.
He told thousands of supporters in Caracas that he was sending the army to "protect" all of the country's oil fields ahead of the plebiscite on Sunday aimed at bolstering his power by changing the constitution.
"If 'Operation Pincer' is activated Sunday or Monday, there won't be a drop of oil from Venezuela to the United States," Chavez said, referring to what he has often claimed is a CIA operation to topple him from power.
"If this (referendum) is used as a pretext to start violence in Venezuela, (Energy) Minister (Rafael) Ramirez on Monday will order that oil exports to North America be stopped," he said. "I have ordered the defense minister ... to put in place plans to protect our oil fields and our refineries.
As of this night (Friday), they will be protected by the army," he said. Chavez also deepened a running row with Spain, whose King Juan Carlos recently told him to "shut up," by threatening to nationalize Spanish banks in Venezuela if the monarch did not apologize.
The warnings upped the stakes over the referendum, which polling companies said was too close to call. Chavez, opposition figures and analysts have all said they fear a close result will be viewed with skepticism by the losing side and trigger violence.
Venezuela currently exports around 60 percent of the two million barrels of oil it produces per day to the United States, which relies on the South American nation for 11 percent of its oil needs. Relations between Caracas and Washington have long been tense, but Chavez has raised his strident anti-US rhetoric several notches as he has fought to have his referendum pass.
The 53-year-old leftist leader is facing his biggest-ever challenge at the ballot box over the proposed constitutional reforms. Even Chavist loyalists in Venezuela's myriad urban slums are balking at supporting them.
With the result on a knife-edge, Chavez has taken to calling all opponents to the changes "traitors" and portraying the referendum as a struggle between his "economic socialism" and US "imperialism." "A vote 'yes' is a vote for Chavez -- a vote 'no' is a vote for (US President) George W. Bush," he told the crowd Friday.
Protests against the referendum have gathered strength, culminating Thursday in a huge rally that denounced Chavez's plan as a bid to turn Venezuela into a Cuba-like communist state. The proposed constitutional changes would do away with term limits for the president and lengthen his mandate from six years to seven.
It would also allow the government to censor the media in times of "emergency," and take over the central bank and expropriate property to guarantee food supplies. The fiercely anti-US leader, who has nurtured ties with Iran and China, has repeatedly accused Washington of fomenting resistance to him in the country, without advancing any evidence.
"Venezuela: we will never be a colony of the United States or of anyone -- we are free," he said in his rally speech. The US television network CNN was also attacked in his speech. He claimed it had incited his assassination by putting the caption "Who killed him?" under his images this week, and dismissed the network's apology and explanation that it was an on-air mix-up.
Chavez said he was ready to rule "until 2050" if the people wanted him, and he sent a message to his mentor, Cuba's Fidel Castro, saying, in English: "Fidel, how are you?" An editorial attributed to the Cuban leader on Friday warned that the United States may seek to assassinate Chavez.
Chavez has multiplied diplomatic disputes with other countries. As well as the running feud with Spain, he has said he would refuse to deal any more with Colombia, after its president axed him as mediator in negotiations for a hostage swap with leftist FARC guerrillas.
