Venezuelan Executive Vice-President José Vicente Rangel Monday claimed that the US Government "is obsessed with Venezuela. They are out of their mind, desperate. They are dangerous because they are desperate."

In Rangel's view, it would be no surprise that any other US military attaché -besides Navy Attaché John Correa, who was expelled from Venezuela two weeks ago- is engaged in spying activities.

"If we take the format of April 11th (2002), the whole US military mission may be involved, because all of them took part in the coup of April (11th, 2002) and the oil strike. I would not be surprised to see another military attaché -besides the Navy Attaché- involved (in spying,)" Rangel stated.

Rangel denied claims about Venezuela challenging the United States. "The only challenge around the world is the government of Mr. (George W.) Bush. We do respect international conventions."

Regarding a proposal to launch bilateral talks in order to solve US-Venezuela friction, just the way Colombia and other countries have done, Rangel replied: "it is impossible with the United States. They do not even meet with Venezuelan officials there."

When asked about restitution of five retired senior military officers to the National Armed Force, Rangel answered that the move made by President Hugo Chávez had a "highly positive impact" on the military "because they are very respected persons."

A fourth generation war "has been started by the United States, but not only against Venezuela but also against a number of countries worldwide," Rangel warned.

He suggested that US weapons budget amounts to USD 500 billion.