WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The United States' preponderance of power in the Western Hemisphere would not be weakened, though some countries are trying to destabilizing the situation, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday.

    "I just don't think there's any question about who has the preponderance of power in the Western Hemisphere," Rice told reporters at a press conference, when asked whether the United States views the strengthening military relations between Russia and Venezuela as a threat to its dominance in the region.

    "A few Russian ships is not going to change the balance of power," commented the secretary on a joint military exercise conducted by Russian and Venezuela fleets from Wednesday till Monday.

    "Just as the United States believes that we can have good relations and can engage the military-to-military contacts wherever there are countries that wish to have us to do so, I assume that we can say the same about Latin America.

    "I would note that Venezuela, as a regional actor, has a number of conflicts and has had some destabilizing behavior toward the states in the region," said Rice.

    The United States views Venezuela led by President Hugo Chavez as a challenger to its leadership in the Latin America.

    About two months ago, Chavez ordered U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy to leave Venezuela, accusing the Bush administration of trying to oust him and vowing to send an ambassador when "there is a new government in the United States."

    In the next day, U.S. State Department announced that the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States was expelled.