[[Hugo Chávez]] was the [[Venezuelan President]]. He was a close ally of [[Manuel Zelaya]], the ousted president of [[Honduras]], and a "nemesis" of the [[United States]]. Chávez stated he would consider it an "act of war" if there were hostilities against his diplomats and put the armed forces of [[Venezuela]] on alert.[^1] [[General Daniel Lopez Carballo]] justified the coup against Zelaya by stating that Chávez would eventually be running [[Honduras]] by proxy if the military had not acted. Zelaya had been in the process of forming a friendship or alliance with Chávez, which could have led to the [[United States]] losing its airbase in [[Honduras]] (Soto Cano Air Base). Chávez reportedly had close ties to [[Iran]] and offered military support to [[Iran]] in the event of a war with the [[United States]].[^1] --- ### Footnotes [^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.