United States President George W. Bush Tuesday turned up the volume of a verbal clash between Washington and Caracas, as for the first time he openly mentioned an investigation into the alleged links between President Hugo Chávez's government and the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC).

In a speech in Jacksonville, southeast Florida, Bush would not mention Chávez's name, but he did refer to an investigation the Colombian authorities are conducting to determine whether Venezuela-FARC relationship goes beyond simple meetings in Caracas.

"Recently, when Colombian forces killed one of the FARC's most senior leaders they discovered computer files that suggest even closer ties between Venezuela's regime and FARC terrorists than we previously knew," Bush said.

"Colombian officials are investigating the ties but this much should be clear: the United States strongly supports, strongly stands with Colombia in its fight against the terrorists and drug lords," Bush added.

Last week US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said her country was attentive to the alleged links between Venezuelan authorities and the FARC, who the US brands as a terrorist organization. However, this is the first time Bush speaks publicly about this issue.

According to Bush, Chávez's regime "has railed against America, has forged an alliance with communist Cuba, has met with FARC leaders in Venezuela, has deployed troops to the Colombian border."

The US President also recalled that FARC had been holding three Americans hostage since 2003, when their plane was captured, noting they were "the longest-held American hostages anywhere in the world," AFP quoted.