A day after vowing to ease tensions with Colombia, on Monday President Hugo Chávez charged that his neighboring country recently allowed a US military aircraft to carry out "electronic warfare" operations against Venezuela.

The Venezuelan ruler said that his intelligence services detected the US plane that, he said, took off from a Colombian base and flew along the border between the two South American countries, whose tense relations have worsened in recent months, AP reported.

Without providing details, Chávez said that Venezuela's military intelligence intercepted a conversation between the pilot of the US plane and air traffic controllers in the northern Colombian city of Barranquilla. The aircraft conducted espionage operations, the Venezuelan leader said.

"We detected, through our strategic intelligence, an RC-12 aircraft belonging to the US Air Force. It was flying over Colombian airspace," Chávez said to a group of military officers, soldiers and cadets who packed an auditorium.

"It was a plane specialized in electronic warfare. It was carrying out electronic war operations," Chávez added.

US Embassy spokeswoman Robin Holzhauer did not specifically respond to Chávez's accusation. Holzhauer only said in a telephone interview that the United States and Colombia are engaging in several bilateral activities, all of which "respect the sovereignty of other nations."

The Venezuelan ruler also accused Colombia's government of allowing the US armed forces to use its territory to prepare what he called "an aggression" against Venezuela.

No one was immediately available at the US Southern Command in Miami to comment on Chávez's statements.

Source: ElUniversal.com