Sports Calendar

Mr Chavez, a flamboyant former army colonel who models himself on the Latin American independence hero Simon Bolivar, has long blamed the United States for a failed coup attempt in 2002, as well of a number of other alleged plots. Washington denies all claims of involvement.

The socialist leader has denied that he is looking for a new Cold War, saying of the Russian bombers that their presence was intended to dissuade any aggression towards Venezuela.

“It is a warning,” he said.“Russia is with us ... we are strategic allies. It is a message to the empire. Venezuela is no longer poor and alone.”

However he warned that the deployment signalled the "end of Yankee hegemony" and the beginning of a new "multi-polar world."

The US State Department implicitly linked the development to the crisis in the Caucusus, describing the bombers as "Cold War assets".

“It is something that we will watch very closely, as we have with the movements of other military assets for the stated purpose of this joint exercise,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

“I would just note, for example, that our military assets in the region of the Black Sea, for example, are there to deliver humanitarian assistance,” Mr McCormack said.

“I will leave it to the Russians and the Venezuelans to describe the purpose of their activities,” he added.

Russia has disputed the humanitarian purpose of the US presence in the Caucusus. Venezuela, which has strongly supported the Kremlin's stance over the conflict, accuses the US of trying to "encircle" Russia through the eastward expansion of NATO to include former Soviet satellites such as Georgia and Ukraine.

The United States is also facing significant challenges elsewhere in Latin America, as leftist leaders rally to Mr Chavez's side to create a socialist bloc to counter American influence.

On Wednesday President Morales of Bolivia ordered the US ambassador to La Paz, Philip Goldberg, to leave, accusing him of contributing to divisions in the country which the government warned was headed towards “civil war." Against a backdrop of increasing unrest, Mr Morales claimed the ambassador had given backing to armed opposition groups challenging his government.

In a tit-for-tat move, the US ordered the expulsion of Bolivia’s ambassador to Washington, Gustavo Guzman, after saying that Mr Morales made a “grave error that has seriously damaged” ties.

Challenges to American power in the region were also coming from Argentina, angry over a court case linked to alleged campaign cash from Venezuela for President Cristina Kirchner, and Nicaragua, which has aligned with Russia in recognizing the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Times Recommends

• A track to Shangri-La: Bhutan gets first rail link
• Avatar takings hit $600m in ten days
• Bomb disposal squad is Times’s Team of the Year