"What they (the United States and Britain) do on Iraq, tomorrow they could do in any other nation," he said.

Rangel, who is on an official visit to Chile, told the local radio that he was deeply worried that the situation would destabilize the international order and undermine the role of the United Nations in international affairs.

"We are in a moment when the world faces big insecurity. Nobody is safe from now, because the only guarantee, the United Nations, the Security Council and the International Law, have collapsed in the face of what is taking place," he stressed.

Also, the Venezuelan official expressed his concern that "an Iraq that is manipulated by other factors of power, could lead to the meddling in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) by a Horse of Troy."

Rangel also said his country, which suffered a general strike through last December and January, has restored order, both on the streets and in the oil industry, which has already recovered its production quota levels of November.

The vice president also said "there were sectors of the US politics that got themselves involved" in the thwarted coup in last April against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

US and British forces entered the sixth day of fighting on Monday in Iraq.

(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2003)