The Venezuelan leader dominated attention Sunday on the final day of the event as he spoke for hours to liberal activists and forum organizers.

"We need militaries that don't allow the people to be trampled upon and that don't sell themselves to the [U.S.] empire," Chavez told forum organizers, as he described a brief coup in 2002 by dissident military officers he alleges were helped by Washington -- something the U.S. government denies.

Chavez, a close ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro, has accused President Bush of plotting to overthrow him to seize control of Venezuela's vast oil reserves. U.S. officials strongly deny that allegation but have increasingly accused Chavez of accumulating power and threatening democracy.

Chavez warned that a U.S. invasion of Venezuela would lead to a "100-year war" and that any U.S. attack on Iran -- with which he has friendly relations -- would be "10 times worse than Iraq."

Chavez's two-hour speech marked the close of the six-day forum, which organizers said drew more than 70,000 participants, a majority of them Venezuelans.

The anti-globalization meeting is held each year to counter the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. This year's is being held in three countries, including a smaller gathering that ended last week in Mali and another two months from now in Pakistan.

Chavez declared the Venezuelan event a huge success and said next year's will be held in Nairobi, Kenya.

The forum drew fewer participants than in the past and suffered from organizational problems that saw many events canceled or moved. But it defied predictions that it would be marred by crime in the violent capital.

It also reaffirmed that Chavez is a powerful voice in the region for many.

"Down with the U.S. empire!," he said to rousing applause from activists Sunday during his weekly broadcast, as he listed U.S. military interventions in places from Panama to Iraq.

He spoke with arms wrapped around the shoulders of American peace activist Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, and Elma Beatriz Rosado, the widow of slain Puerto Rican nationalist Filiberto Ojeda Rios.

Sheehan gained international fame last year when she set up a protest camp near Bush's Texas ranch. Chavez said she planned to pitch her tent there again during Holy Week in April.

"Maybe I'll put up my tent also," Chavez said to applause, and Sheehan accused Bush of being, "responsible for killing tens of thousands of innocent people."

Rosado, holding back tears as she stood at Chavez's side, said: "I accuse the United States government of murdering Filiberto."

The 72-year-old militant independence supporter was killed in a September FBI raid on a Puerto Rican farmhouse where he was living in hiding while wanted in the 1983 robbery of $7.2 million from an armored truck depot in West Hartford, Connecticut -- funds intended for the independence cause.

"They murdered him," Chavez said. "Viva Filiberto! ... Let's follow his example."