Ashktually, he called the Goverment of Colombia at the time the Israel of Latin America.

"The Colombian government has turned into the Israel of Latin America," said Chavez during his show on Sunday.

"Colombia is a terrorist state that is subject to the great terrorist, the government of the United States and their apparatus," he explained.

Israel embassador in Argentina, Rafael Eldad, in response to the Venezuelan president's claim that Colombia was becoming "the Latin American equivalent of Israel", said that Hugo Chávez was "introducing the culture of hatred into Latin America" and called for messages of peace and calm for the region.

Context: Colombia was under the government of far-right politician Álvaro Uribe. Colombia was practically surrounded by left-wing governments in Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador. Uribe was still fighting leftist guerrillas in the Colombian interior. With this excuse, he ordered the invasion of northern Ecuador and bombed the region.

Rafael Correa was furious and ordered the withdrawal of troops, broke off relations with Colombia and threatened to react militarily. Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua decided to support Ecuador. Venezuela went so far as to prepare soldiers to help Ecuador defend its country. Fortunately, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega resolved the crisis diplomatically.

Evo Morales accused the US of supporting Uribe only because they wanted to destroy Unasur (the equivalent of the EU in South America).