CARACAS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Friday said he had deployed infantry and air force units following Colombian charges last week that his country harbored leftist guerrillas.

Chavez severed relations with Colombia last week over Bogota's charges his country harbors Colombian guerrillas in comfortable camps and has since said the neighboring country was preparing a military attack.

Colombia denies the charge, and most analysts say a war between the countries is very unlikely.

"I should tell you we have deployed units to defend our sovereignty in case of an aggression, air defense units, air units, infantry, special operations," Chavez said in a phone call to a state TV station. "We don't want to hurt anybody. We don't want to cause alarm in the population."

The socialist leader said he believed the outgoing government of President Alvaro Uribe, who he described as "obsessed," might attack Venezuela, but said his Foreign Minister will meet with Colombia's new government, which takes office on Aug. 7.

Chavez did not say where he had sent the forces, or how many were deployed. Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez on Thursday promised no attack was planned.

A former soldier, Chavez says he would never launch an offensive against another country, but has spent billions retooling his armed forces because he says the OPEC nation is vulnerable to a U.S.-backed invasion.