He said the US, not Venezuela, should face scrutiny by the Organisation of American States.

"If there is any government that should be monitored by the OAS, then it should be the US government, a government which backs terrorists, invades nations, tramples over its own people, seeks to install a global dictatorship. That should be the government that is monitored," said Chavez.

His latest anti-US outburst reflected the current tense state of relations between Venezuela, the world’s No. 5 oil exporter, and its biggest oil client the United States.

US officials have said they are worried that Chavez’s dominance of his country’s courts, the military and other state institutions, combined with his government’s persecution of political opponents, puts Venezuela’s democracy at risk.