Defense Minister General Gustavo Rangel Briceño advocated Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's decision to send military troops to the border with Colombia, but clarified that the move does not target the Colombian people but "the empire's expansionist greed."

General Rangel, together with the other members of the National Armed Force (FAN) Joint Chiefs of Staff, talked to reporters about the incident in the Colombia-Ecuador border. In his view, the action performed by the Colombian Army "is an irrational demonstration of a government whose goal is to defend the interests of a foreign power, and which can be summarized as an open act of war."

He added that Colombia could use the same reasons to justify a similar attack against Venezuelan sovereignty.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the FAN has mobilized 10 tactical battalions to the border with Colombia, particularly to the states of Zulia (northwest), Táchira (southwest), and Apure (southwest).

The chief of the FAN Strategic Operational Command General Jesús Gregorio González González, said 90 percent of the troops President Chávez last Sunday ordered to be sent to the border have been mobilized so far.

The battalions comprise equipment and troops of the Navy, Aviation and National Guard.

General González González said the military mobilization is intended to meet "an essential need" of security in the Colombia-Venezuela border.

Meanwhile, General Rangel Briceño said the border would not be closed, as the FAN has not been given such an order.

"Has the President given such instructions? Has anyone listened to President Chávez giving instructions to close the border," the Defense Minister wondered.