Thousands of Venezuelan troops mass on Colombian border

Following the landslide re-election of Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Venezuela is increasing its troop strength along the Colombian border by a factor of six, AP reports.

Meanwhile, the regime becomes more shrill about having to defend itself against a US invasion.

Currently, about 1,000 troops patrol the 1,300 mile border, but Caracas is upping the strength to at least 6,000, citing problems with trafficking, paramilitary groups and Yankee invasion plots.

The regime said nothing about using its troops to stop communist FARC narcoterrorist infiltration from their safe havens in Venezuela to launch attacks in Colombia.

Spain is helping Venezuela improve its troop mobility by selling CASA transport aircraft (pictured) - despite official, high-level US opposition. Spain and CASA are currently lobbying the US Congress to buy the same planes for the Coast Guard and Pentagon.