WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States said on Tuesday that any allegations that it is to take hostile action against Venezuela is completely baseless.

    "As we have said before, any allegations that we are planning to take hostile action against the Venezuelan government are completely baseless and without fact," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a briefing.

    McCormack said that the remarks by American citizen Pat Robertson are "inappropriate" and does not represent the US policy.

    "I would say that Pat Robertson is a private citizen and that his views do not represent the policy of the United States; that we do not share his view and that his comments are inappropriate,"McCormack said.

    According to US media reports, Robertson suggested on Monday that "time has come" for the United States to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel has strongly condemned the remarks.

    Chavez has been an outspoken critic of the United States. Enditem