So far its been mostly jabs and a few body blows from both sides, with the United States accusing President Hugo Chavez of being a rogue element in the region and Venezuela counterpunching with a combination of accusations of U.S. political meddling and threats to cut America off from its oil supplies, the 5th largest in the world and a major supplier to the United States.

The fighting has been fierce, though neither nation looks ready to throw any haymakers in the hopes of scoring a knockout.

However, the Bush administration does appear ready to hit Chavez with some fierce combinations that could leave Chavez battered and the South American country bruised for years to come.

In comments published Monday in the London-based Financial Times, the United States came out swinging, saying it was creating a policy to "contain" the leftist Chavez in the face of his alleged dedication to fostering leftist subversion among other Latin American countries.

"Chavez is a problem because he is clearly using his oil money and influence to introduce his conflictive style into the politics of other countries," said Roger Pardo-Maurer, deputy assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs at the Pentagon.

Without expanding on just what that "containment" policy might be, Pardo-Maurer made it clear that the United States was ready to refocus its attention on Latin America after largely ignoring the region in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Other U.S. military officials and officials and the U.S. State Department have expressed concern in recent weeks about Venezuela's purchase of weapons from Russian arms dealers, including MiG fighter jets, helicopters and some 100,000 assault rifles.

Those worries may have been the reason why U.S. naval vessels chose to conduct exercises off the coast of nearby Curacao, located fewer than 50 miles from Venezuela's coast.

Venezuelan Navy Cmdr. Armando Laguna said Venezuela was "taking precautions" and investigating just what U.S. ships and other military equipment are doing in the region.

The U.S. volley follows Chavez's blows earlier this month when he said he would shut off oil exports to the United States if "hurts" his country in any way.

"If there is any aggression, there will be no oil," Chavez said during a visit to India when he was hammering out a long-term oil deal. "We want to supply oil to the United States. (But) we are not going to avoid this supply of oil unless the U.S. government gets a little bit crazy and tries to hurt us."

Chavez's cave at concerning the oil flow to its biggest and best customer comes amid a tense point in US-Venezuelan relations.

Reflecting Venezuela's ire, Vice President Jose Rangel accused the U.S. State Department representative for the region of being out of touch with matters in Latin America.

According to Rangel, the U.S. government is "totally out of control in regards to Venezuela and doesn't have any idea what is happening in Latin America."

Rangel's remarks came in response to testimony by Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger Noriega in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Noriega told lawmakers that the State Department was concerned that "(Venezuelan) President Hugo Chavez's very personal agenda may undermine democratic institutions at home and among his neighbors."

The Bush administration has long been a critic of the politics and policies of Chavez, accusing him of attempting to create a Cuban-style dictatorship in the South American country and supporting Colombian leftist rebels who are intent on destabilizing the government of Venezuela's neighbor.

Both accusations Chavez adamantly denies, adding recently that he was concerned that the U.S. government was intent on overthrowing his administration.

"His efforts to concentrate power at home, his suspect relationship with destabilizing forces in the region, and his plans for arms purchases are causes of major concern to the Bush administration," said Noriega.

Chavez has accused the United States of trying to incite a war with Venezuela and went as far to allege Washington was intent on killing him.

"If something happens to me, there is only one person responsible for it, and his name is George W. Bush," said Chavez on Tuesday, echoing previous assertions that the White House had d esigns on assassinating him.

In January, while still a U.S. Secretary of State nominee, Condoleezza Rice criticized Chavez, who she said governed "illiberally," although he was democratically elected.

The Venezuelan leader sought to counter doubters regarding a possible U.S. invasion of Venezuela, citing precedent in Panama, where U.S. troops landed in 1989 and captured then Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega.

More recently and closer to home Chavez fingered the United States for playing a hand in the April 2002 coup that saw him briefly deposed, only to return to power 48 hours later.

At the time, the White House expressed its support for the coup and Venezuela's opposition and continues to fund some Venezuelan opposition parties via the National Endowment for Democracy.

In the last year, Chavez has been balking more vociferously at alleged U.S. interference in Venezuelan affairs, accusing the White House of conspiring to gain control of its oil production.

The supposed pressure from abroad appears to have in part prompted Chavez to beef up Venezuela's defenses, a move that has caused concern from the State Department.

In 2004, Venezuela agreed to purchase an estimated 50 MiG fighter jets from Russia as well as other arms. And earlier this month, Brazil said it would sell at least a dozen light attack aircraft known as Super Tucanos to Venezuela.

State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said that the purchase from Russia had a potentially "destabilizing effect on the hemisphere."

Among Washington's concerns about a heavily armed Venezuela is the possibility of conflict between the leftist Chavez and neighboring Colombia, led by right-wing Bush administration ally Alvaro Uribe.

Colombia has received some $3.3 billion in arms and assistance from Washington in recent years to fund the South American nation's war against drug cartels and left-wing rebel groups.

Chavez, however, has accused Colombia and the United States of conspiring together to remove him from power by funding improvements in the Colombian military.

So far the sparring between the United States and Venezuela hasn't resulted in any real damaging blows. But given a chance, both nations seem poised to pummel the other.

We'll just have to keep watching to see which nation lands the knockout blow. My money's on the world superpower to the north.

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