President Hugo Chavez accused the United States of trying to turn Venezuela’s military against him to undermine a constitutional reform that could let him govern for decades.
Chavez, a former army lieutenant colonel who survived a short-lived 2002 coup, said his domestic opponents are collaborating with the US  Central Intelligence Agency to spur another putsch.
“The conspiracy has already begun. The messages are circulating in the barracks. The hand of the CIA, the empire, is behind this,” Chavez said on Sunday on his weekly radio and television programme. “They are trying for a coup.”
The Venezuelan leader did not elaborate or give any evidence of the purported plot.
Last week, Chavez proposed a constitutional reform that would abolish limits on re-election and extend presidential terms from six to seven years. But he denies opponents’ allegations that he wants to become a lifelong leader like his close ally Fidel Castro of Cuba.