Blasts Rock Spain, Colombia Missions in Venezuela

abcnews.go.com — By Patrick Markey

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - An explosion rocked a Spanish Embassy building and another blast hit the front of the Colombian consulate in the Venezuelan capital Caracas early on Tuesday, buckling steel gates and blowing out windows in nearby buildings. Five people were injured.

A security guard and two people were injured at the Colombian consulate building, where shards of glass and concrete debris from the badly damaged facade lay scattered across the street, authorities said. Two others were also hurt by fragments at the Spanish embassy site.

The blasts came after President Hugo Chavez, whose self-styled "Bolivarian Revolution" promises to ease poverty, accused the United States and Spain of siding with his enemies and warned Colombia he may break off diplomatic ties.

"If this had not been at two in the morning and instead at two in the afternoon we would have had a lot of dead from the impact," Chacao district mayor Leopoldo Lopez told reporters.

Police officials could not immediately say what caused the two explosions.

At the cooperation suboffice of the Spanish embassy in the east of the capital, the gate of the building was blown off and a hole punched in its wall; across the street, windows of another building were smashed. The blast at the Colombian consulate, not far from the Spanish embassy site, ripped into the glass facade of the four-story building.

Leaflets scattered at both sites referred to the "Bolivarian Liberation Front," a previously unheard of group.

"Our revolution will not be negotiated, only deepened," one of the leaflets read.

Venezuela's bitter political struggle between Chavez and his opponents has often flared into violence and street clashes; media outlets critical of the president have been the targets of grenade attacks.

INTERNATIONAL CONCERN OVER ARREST

The Venezuelan leader's criticisms of the United States and Spain on Sunday followed expressions of international concern over the arrest of Carlos Fernandez, a prominent opposition businessman who was charged with rebellion for leading a two-month strike to pressure Chavez into accepting elections.

Venezuela's crisis has drawn in the international community, with leaders fearing the world's fifth largest oil supplier could slide deeper into violence as Chavez allies and enemies battle over his government.

The U.S., Spain and four other countries have backed efforts by the Organization of American States (OAS) to broker a deal on elections to defuse the crisis. But the talks have been caught up in wrangling and Chavez on Sunday appeared to brush aside members of the six-nation group.

He warned OAS chief Cesar Gaviria, who is chairing the talks for three months, not to "step out of line."

Chavez on Sunday also criticized Colombia after a cabinet minister in the neighboring country said the Venezuelan leader had met with left-wing rebel leaders.

Chavez and his foes have been locked in a fierce political battle over his rule since April when he survived a short-lived coup by rebel military officers. The president has recently hardened his stance against critics he brands "terrorists" trying to topple him by sabotaging the oil industry.

The opposition strike began on Dec. 2; it severely disrupted the vital oil exports that account for half of Venezuelan government revenues. The shutdown fizzled out in February though the oil sector is still struggling to recover.

But Chavez, elected in 1998, has so far resisted calls for an early vote of confidence on his leadership from opponents. They accuse him of ruling like a dictator and inspiring supporters to violence with his fiery speeches laced with threats and class warfare rhetoric.

His self-styled "revolutionary" government mingles left-leaning policies, such as land reform and cheap credits for the poor, with nationalism styled after 19th century South American liberation hero Simon Bolivar.

A grenade exploded in January at the Venezuelan residence of the ambassador from Algeria. That explosion followed bomb threats made against several foreign embassies in Caracas and the German, Canadian and Australian embassies were evacuated.