The US government is looking to "create a file" against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez based on the claims of alleged support by the Venezuelan government to the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), said Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro.

"Today there is an ongoing operation and we want to denounce it. The US government is directly accountable for this operation; an operation to fill the hemisphere with violence and divide our peoples," he said.

Maduro made reference to a statement issued on Monday by US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, according to which the FARC had "undoubtedly" sought refuge in Venezuelan territory.

The minister called the remarks "abusive and rude," and the evidence of "a political operation to create a file against both the legitimate, democratic President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and our country."