Will Venezuela's govt be the nucleaous for strong resistance within Latin America against BushCo's policies and double standards while leading the way for a resistance movement against BushCo with other Latin America countries? Are BushCo war drums beating for Venezuela?



http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-03/...ent_2713257.htm

CARACAS, March 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Venezuela on Thursday rebuffed the latest US charges of its arms deal, saying Washington is applying double standards to the issue.

Venezuelan Vice President Jose Rangel told a press conference that the United States has two completely different criteria on arms purchases by Venezuela and Colombia.

Rangel said his country made the deal as part of a plan to reinforce its border security, rather than for an arms race as claimed by Washington.

"Colombia has just announced it will buy 22 combat planes. Is this an arms race?" he asked.

On Monday, the Financial Times quoted Gen. Bantz Craddock, commander-in-chief of the US Southern Command, as indicating that 100,000 Russian-made Kalashnikov rifles to be purchased by Venezuela could end up in the hands of Colombian guerrillas seeking to overthrow President Alvaro Uribe.

Tensions between Venezuela and the United States have been escalating amid exchanges of hostile rhetoric, in which VenezuelanPresident Hugo Chavez accused Washington of planning to assassinate him, while US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called him a "negative force" in Latin America.

With the western hemisphere's largest proven oil reserves, Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter that produces more than 3 million barrels of crude oil a day. It sells 60 percent of its crude oil to the United States. Enditem



**************************************************************

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600119647,00.html

An invasion in Venezuela?
Saturday, March 19, 2005

Deseret Morning News editorial

The U.S. invasion of Iraq has sent shivers through the political strongmen of the world. And that's not all bad. In Venezuela, for instance, President Hugo Suarez is gearing up for the worst. He anticipates an American invasion and is trying to rally his troops and his countrymen for the attack. There's a certain satisfaction in watching a bully squirm.
But why would the United States invade Venezuela?
For oil, the thinking there goes. And because, after Iraq, some believe the United States is capable of just about anything.
Let them think it.
In the minds of many Latin Americans, the United States has a long history of mischief in the region. In Colombia, the havoc caused by the United Fruit Company can still be seen in dilapidated towns. In Granada, citizens still look over their shoulders.

I certainly would say that Rumsy is beating on his little war drum for BushCo.



Pentagon chief escalates threats against Venezuela
By Bill Van Auken
26 March 2005

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld used his brief three-nation tour of Latin America this week to step up US threats against Venezuela and pressure the region’s governments into joining Washington’s campaign to isolate the government of President Hugo Chavez.

Rangel characterized the remarks by the Pentagon chief as a “propaganda war” that represented “a new phase in [US] imperialist aggression” aimed at “taking possession of our energy resources. Venezuela is just one step in their global ambitions.”

The US defense secretary was met by large protests in both countries, where he was denounced as an architect of the Iraq war—a subject that was discreetly avoided in his meetings with Brazilian and Argentine officials. In Buenos Aires, protesters blocked a bridge leading into the Argentine capital for two hours.

Chavez good, Rumsfeld Bad.

Oh no, now I am guilty of treason in the eyes of Dittohead Bush Voter's.

I have problems with both of them.

Hugo "Suarez"?

Does anyone realize how deep the Bush Family ties with Venezuela are? I would say they own a big chunk of the real estate.

Does WWII ring a bell?

Jeb's been known to visit there as a little "runner" for the CIA 'bout the time his daddy was "workin' for da Man" in those GOLDEN REAGAN IRAN-CONTRA Years when John Wayne was God and Elvis had been sighted and GW was asnortin' and....well...... That big ol' Gringo....stuck out likea sore thumb, but hey...his wife's family was "helpful".

Say, habla Espanol dere, Jeb?

I quite agree with you as one can always check into the Bush Clan's hsitory and find their sticky fingerprints all over everything that's becoming a growing threat to US security.

I found this commentary that will kick start such 'southern' ties with the Bushies. It gives a pretty good rundown with especially Jeb Bush's strong ties to both Cuba and Venezuela.

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=21859
Friday, July 02, 2004

Besides using the implausible rhetoric of “defense of democracy” justify the destabilization of Venezuela, the Bush clan has maintained interests and ties to this country for many years, specifically with multimillionaire businessmen who, like Jeb, have not used their wealth to benefit others; as well as with well-known members of the Cuban exile community living in Venezuela.

From the Governor’s Office, Jeb supports his friends and associates from the radical Cuban exile community; these associates have participated in various kinds of operations in Venezuela.

Therefore, it’s not strange that Cisneros has been identified as Bush Jr.’s prospect to confront Hugo Chavez in future presidential elections, which could take place earlier than scheduled if the opposition wins the US-supported presidential recall referendum.

57-year-old Gustavo Cisneros Rendiles has a fortune of around US$5 billion, one of the largest in Latin America, after Mexican Carlos Slim. Cisneros occupies the 94th position on the list of the 500 richest men in the world, according to Forbes magazine.

Further bonding of countries with Venezuela.


http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-03/...ent_2748603.htm

Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Spain to hold summit on ties promotion

BRASILIA, March 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Leaders of Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia and Spain will meet to promote relations in Venezuela's Guayana on March 29, said the Brazilian Foreign Ministry on Saturday.

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, Venezuelan President Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias, their Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will attend the summit, said a statement of the BrazilianForeign Ministry.

The leaders are expected to discuss their cooperation in fight against drug trafficking, weapons smuggling and organized crimes, said the statement.

They will also discuss South America's economic and commercial integration, the construction of transportation infrastructure, energy and communications, it said.

Other issues on the agenda will be the UN reforms, the fight against hunger and poverty, the cross-cultural dialogue, the SouthAmerican Community of Nations and the Iberian-American summit, it said. Enditem

BushCo releases their list of the top 5 nations in Latin America who are designated as being in violations of human rights. Venezuela is mentioned strongly in the article.


http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisob...ld/11258186.htm


Posted on Tue, Mar. 29, 2005
5 nations are cited as human rights abusers

BY PABLO BACHELET

Miami Herald

WASHINGTON - Many countries in Latin America are struggling to consolidate democratic reforms and respect for human rights, a State Department report said Monday, reserving some of the strongest language for abuses in Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Colombia.

In Venezuela, there was ''some pretty severe backsliding in areas like press freedom, judicial independence, and so on,'' said Michael Kozak, acting assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.

Span continues to work with Venezuela which adds several more sweat beads on Bushie's forehead.



http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=625005


Spain risks US anger by selling arms to Chavez
By Elizabeth Nash in Madrid

31 March 2005

Spain's socialist Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has been forced to defend a decision to sell arms worth €1.3bn (£900m) to the left-wing Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, in a deal condemned by the opposition as "a monstrous error".

In Spain's biggest arms deal for many years, its arms factories will supply 10 C-295 transport planes, four coastal patrol corvettes and four smaller coastguard patrol boats to Mr Chavez's army. Mr Zapatero said the vehicles would be used to monitor coastlines, combat terrorism and drug traffickers, and mount rescue operations during natural disasters. The deal was announced by the Spanish Prime Minister during a visit to Venezuela yesterday when he also met fellow left-wing leaders from Colombia and Brazil.

President Bush has been cool to Mr Zapatero since he was elected last year, and this latest initiative is unlikely to improve relations. But Mr Zapatero said that the purpose of the deal was only to fight terrorism and hunger. The boats and planes will be made by the Spanish division of the European aeronautical consortium, Eads. Spain is also to repair and build tankers for Venezuela.

US Aggression towards Venezuela: The Rise of Black Propaganda and Dirty War Tactics
By Eva Golinger
Venezuelanalysis.com

Wednesday 30 March 2005

Washington's efforts to discredit the Venezuelan Government have increased over the past few weeks. Tactics and strategies applied in prior years attempting to overthrow the Chávez administration through a coup d'etat, an illegal oil industry strike that crippled the Venezuelan economy and a constitutional recall referendum on Chávez's mandate infused with illegal campaign contributions by the US government to the Venezuelan opposition, all failed miserably. After a brief period of reevaluation, the Bush Administration has recently launched a new strategy intended to isolate and eventually topple the Venezuelan Government. The new aggression towards Venezuela is direct, open, public and hostile. The Bush Administration, through its Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and her spokesmen, its Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his spokesmen, and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Porter Goss, has made clear that Venezuela is a target for Washington this year.

This time around, the strategy is clear: turn President Chávez into an international pariah in the world media and justify an intervention to save democracy. Even more transparent are the mechanisms utilized to implement the strategy. Since early January 2005, major US publications and television stations, including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Fox News Network and CSNBC, to name a few, have published or broadcast well over 60 articles and programs regurgitating State Department accusations that President Chávez presents a "negative force in the region,"[1] is a "threat to democracy," a "semi-dictator," or that the Venezuela Government provides refuge and collaborates with "terrorist" groups, such as the Colombian FARC and ELN. Such accusations are dangerous in today's world, where the Bush Administration is omnipotent to act preemptively to "spread liberty" and implement "regime change" where and when it sees fit.

The new strategy applied towards Venezuela represents a major policy shift for the Bush Administration. While prior actions were more subtle, clandestine and low profile, the revised plan is confrontational. Washington is now trying to openly intervene in Venezuela to remove Chávez from power, but attempts to excuse such actions by branding Chávez as a dictator and a major threat to US national security. Several recent articles in US media have demonstrated such objectives.

The April 11, 2005 edition of The National Review, an ultraconservative magazine representing right-wing views similar to those of Washington's ultraconservative right-wing government, presents a cover image of President Chávez, in military fatigues, a red beret and a face ten years younger, alongside President Fidel Castro of Cuba, with the byline, "The Axis of Evil...Western Hemisphere Version". The feature article, by rabidly anti-Castro Cuban-American Otto Reich, former Special Advisor to George W. Bush on Latin American Affairs and former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, along with a list of other top positions in the Reagan, Bush I and II administrations, presents an attempt to terrorize readers into believing Venezuela has become the primary threat to US national security in the region. Reich also claims that the US's most "pressing specific challenge is neutralizing or defeating the Cuba-Venezuela axis."[2]

The terms "neutralizing" and "defeating" are not friendly. They imply hostility, violence and dominance. These are not terms used within the sphere of diplomacy, they are expressions used in the context of armed conflict. Such statements by Reich, who now works in the private sector as a US Government Consultant, may seem laughable to many, but in the context of an administration that shares Reich's extremist views on Latin America and in light of the recent augment in public aggression towards the Venezuelan Government by high-level Bush officials, these remarks may not be far off. In fact, Reich's recent article falls perfectly in line with the onslaught of Chávez-bashing commentaries and "news stories" published in US papers since January.

Over the past two weeks, the Spanish-language version of the Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, has run a three-part series on the growing threat of organizations and individuals that support the Venezuelan Government from within the United States.[3] The articles, written by right-wing Cuban-American journalist Casto Ocando, who has written dozens of fervently anti-Chávez articles for that same paper, pretend to expose a network of Chávez supporters in universities and progressive groups that, at the appeal of the journalist, should be considered "foreign agents" or almost "terrorist" by the US Government and public. One of the articles even includes a map of where such pro-Chávez groups are located in the US, with a large image of President Chávez in military fatigues imposed on top, as though the author were exposing some clandestine terrorist network secretly operating within the United States.

The groups and institutions mentioned by the Herald that form part of the "sinister" pro-Chávez network in the US include Harvard University, New York University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Global Exchange, Global Women's Strike, San Romero de las Americas Church in New York and its Pastor, Luis Barrios, the catholic missionary Maryknoll group, the author of this article (yes, me), and several Bolivarian Circles, small community-based organizations that support Chávez modeled from the Venezuelan grassroots organizations that carry the same name. Sounds like a scary group!

I am sure that thoughts of Maryknoll missioners, prestigious university professors, Harlem-based Pastors and the environmentally-friendly Global Exchange all lauding a foreign government that is investing its oil wealth in improving health care, education, housing and raising salaries, has driven fear into the hearts and minds of ordinary Americans.[4]

Media-CIA Relationship Exposed

But maybe the author's intent and not the content of the article should cause alarm. During the publishing of the three-part series on the growing threat of pro-Chávez supporters in the US, journalist Casto Ocando appeared on a local Miami television show on Channel 22, discussing such "threats" in detail alongside fellow Cuban-American Félix Rodríguez, ex-CIA Officer responsible for the assassination of Ernesto "Che" Guevara and who was also an Iran-Contra operative.[5] Just days earlier, this expert in CIA assassination techniques used against foreign leaders, Félix Rodríguez, was interviewed on that same program, "Maria Elvira Confronta" (Maria Elvira Confronts), providing details about an assassination plot in motion against President Hugo Chávez.[6] Ocando and Rodríguez's association merely points to a collaborative effort between CIA and news media, a relationship established decades ago by the United States Government.

On that same Miami program in October 2004, the anti-Chávez Venezuelan actor, and coup participant, Orlando Urdaneta, appeared ordering the assassination of President Chávez and other "top figures" in the Venezuelan Government.[7] Just weeks later, on November 18, 2004, lead government Prosecutor Danilo Anderson was assassinated by a powerful car bomb. At that time, Anderson was in charge of several high profile cases, including the prosecution of coup leaders and participants. His death marked the first political assassination in recent Venezuelan history.

The Venezuelan Government has repeatedly requested the State Department investigate these threats of violence against President Chávez coming from within the United States, yet no formal response has been issued and no actions have been taken.

Despite initial denials from State Department spokesmen regarding accusations from the Venezuelan Government that Washington was engaging in a coordinated effort with the media to discredit President Chávez, facilitate expressions of violence against the Venezuelan head of state and spread unsubstantiated rumors about terrorist connections and human rights violations, in early March 2005, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Roger Noriega, confirmed to the press that the United States had launched a "campaign" to raise consciousness in the region about "the growing threat of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez."[8] And what better way to publicize a campaign than through the mass media?

The Office of Public Diplomacy Revived

In 1983, the United States Government, by direct order of President Ronald Reagan's White House, established the Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean (LPD) under the authority of the Department of State. The LPD was staffed by personnel from the United States military, the US Information Agency (USIA), the government's primary propaganda office, and the Agency for International Development (USAID). Its primary advisor was the National Security Council, the most elite intelligence advisory committee in the US, reporting directly to the President. The notorious Otto Reich was chosen to direct the Office of Public Diplomacy, in order to spearhead the campaign to oust the Sandinista Government of Nicaragua.

Declassified documents from the US Government, obtained by the National Security Archives, evidence the covert and illegal use of news media to promote US foreign policy.[9] Reich employed the personnel from US military "Psyops" (Psychological Operations Group) to produce different kinds of propaganda and information for the LPD Office. "Psyop" job duties included preparing "daily summaries of exploitable information", "analyzing media trends and highlighting areas of concern" and "suggesting themes and media for use" by the Office of Public Diplomacy.[10] The media used by the Office of Public Diplomacy to promulgate US foreign policy on Nicaragua included The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, CBS News, NBC News and Newsweek Magazine, amongst others.

The types of messages disseminated through Reich's office, as developed by the National Security Council and the Psyops, were intended to encourage the perception that US aid to the contras, labeled "freedom fighters" by the US, was a vital national interest of the United States. To achieve that goal, Reich's office was to convince the US public that the contras were fighters for freedom in the American tradition of democracy and the Sandinistas were "evil". The themes invoked in the psychological propaganda attempted to convince the public that the Sandinistas were engaging in a "military build-up", had a "communist connection" and were "human rights violators" repressing "freedom of the press", "right of assembly", "freedom of speech", responsible for the "destruction of the economy" and were "linked to worldwide terrorism."

In 1987, the United States General Accounting Office (GAO) determined that the Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean had engaged in illegal and unethical practices and had violated government regulations.[11] GAO and the Congress subsequently shut down the Office permanently. But Otto Reich, instead of receiving punishment for his illegal actions throughout the years he headed the LPD was promoted to the position of US Ambassador to Venezuela and stationed in Caracas. During that period, he helped liberate Cuban terrorist Orlando Bosch, responsible for blowing up a Cubana de Aviación airplane flying from Barbados, killing all of the more than 65 people aboard the flight. Reich later helped facilitate the entry of Bosch into the United States, where he roams free today.[12]

Otto Reich's Misinformation Campaign

Otto Reich was the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, the position Roger Noriega holds today, during the April 2002 coup d'état against President Chávez. This author has disclosed numerous documents from the Department of State and the CIA that evidence US involvement in that coup.[13] Amongst these documents is a heavily censured cable marked "confidential", drafted by Otto Reich, laying out the State Department's position on the coup. Despite the fact that the US Government was well aware of the detailed coup plans, as revealed in a CIA Senior Executive Intelligence Brief dated April 6, 2002[14], Reich, the master of mis-information, told all diplomatic representatives of the US that they were to promote this false version of events:

"On April 11, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans gathered to seek redress of their grievances. Chávez supporters fired on anti-government protestors resulting in more than 100 wounded or killed....The government prevented five independent television stations from reporting on events. After meeting with senior military officers, Chávez allegedly resigned the presidency. A provisional civilian government, led by Pedro Carmona, assumed power and promised early elections."[15]

The intent of the US Government was to misinform the world of the events giving rise to the illegal coup d'état that briefly overthrew President Chávez, therefore justifying its own participation in such actions and reinforcing its strategy to "legitimately" remove Chávez from power. The fact that the US Government had clear knowledge of the coup plans and actors in the weeks before the coup provides undisputed evidence of this fact. The CIA intelligence brief of April 6, 2002 unmistakably informed top level US Government officials that, "Dissident military factions...are stepping up efforts to organize a coup against President Chávez...the level of detail in the reported plans...targets Chávez and 10 other senior officials for arrest...To provoke military action, the plotters may try to exploit unrest stemming from opposition demonstrations..."

The CIA briefs from the weeks before also claimed knowledge of the coup's organizers: "...the private sector, the media, the Catholic Church and opposition political parties.... [along with] disgruntled military officers...still planning a coup, possibly early this month..."[16]

Reich's efforts at the time of the coup against President Chávez in Venezuela were merely to continue what he was best at, disseminating false information - propaganda - intended to promote US foreign policy, just as he had done fifteen years early in Nicaragua.

Today's campaign against Venezuela starkly parallels those tactics used back in the eighties by the Office of Public Diplomacy. Though Reich no longer maintains an official position within the Bush Administration, his capacity as a private sector US Government Consultant on International Affairs clearly shows his ties and influence remain. And others in powerful positions within the US Government are his colleagues from the low intensity conflict years in Central America during the Reagan-Bush administrations. John Negroponte, former US Ambassador in Honduras during the eighties is soon-to-be the new Director of National Intelligence, the highest capacity in the intelligence community, Charles Shapiro, ex-Ambassador to Venezuela during the coup who previously was a State Department diplomat in Central America during the eighties is now Under-Secretary of State for the Andean Region (covering Venezuela), Reich's old buddy Roger Noriega took his place as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs and Porter Goss, ex-CIA Official and member of the Operation 40 assassination squad in the 1960s, alongside Cuban terrorist Orlando Bosch, is now Director of the CIA.

Such relationships and backgrounds make it no surprise to see that today's campaign against Venezuela employs the same themes used, successfully, against the Sandinistas in the eighties. In addition to the similar use of the National Endowment for Democracy and USAID to funnel millions into Venezuelan opposition parties and NGOs, the US Government attempts to portray Chávez in the same exact light as the Sandinistas. Repeated declarations from the State and Defense Departments, recycled in major US media, claim the Chávez Government is engaging in a "military build-up" or "arms race" with its recent purchase of new weaponry from Russia (note that the US Government is the ONLY government to express such concerns. None of Venezuela's neighbors have even raised an eyebrow. And Brazil has publicly stated they have no concerns whatsoever with Venezuela's recent arms purchase); that Chávez is a "communist" in the likes of Fidel Castro; that his government "violates human rights" including "freedom of the press", the "right to assembly", "freedom of speech", "persecution of opposition groups and actors" and that his administration is responsible for the "poverty" and "economic devastation" that has affected the country in recent years.

If you read a few paragraphs above in this commentary, you will find the same identical themes were used to discredit the Nicaraguan government by Reich's Office of Public Diplomacy. Note that all of these claims against President Chávez and the Venezuelan Government are false. There is more freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Venezuela than under any prior government. The Chávez administration has never suspended any constitutional rights and in fact has expanded human rights under the 1999 Bolivarian Constitution that was promoted by President Chávez himself and ratified by an unprecedented national referendum.

In the US, Telling the President He "Sucks" Can Land You in Jail

Recently, The Washington Post, published yet another article attempting to reinforce the false accusations repeated over and over again by State Department officials. The Post has been the media most frequently utilized to reiterate US foreign policy towards Venezuela and its editorial board is unquestionably anti-Chávez. Remember, The Post figured prominently on the list of media utilized by Reich's Office of Public Diplomacy to disseminate "black propaganda" attempting to smear the Nicaraguan Government's reputation in the 1980s. It appears as though such efforts have been revived in the case of Venezuela.

An article by Jackson Diehl, "Chávez's Censorship: Where Disrespect Can Land You in Jail" (Washington Post, Monday, March 28, 2005, p.A17), attempts to convince readers that a reformed Penal Code in Venezuela is somehow a repressive tool of an authoritarian regime. Diehl references Article 147: "Anyone who offends with his words or in writing or in any other way disrespects the President of the Republic or whomever is fulfilling his duties will be punished with prison of 6 to 30 months if the offense is serious and half of that if it is light." Yet this journalist fails to mention US laws on the same subject matter, which are actually much stricter and truly repressive. Title 18 of the US Code, Section 871, "Threats Against the President or his Successors" provides for up to five years of prison for any kind of "threat" against a US President, Vice-President, his spouse or any one in the succession line who could become President, which includes a grand portion of Congress. Section 871 has been used to jail individuals for telling a US President he "sucks"[17], informing a President that, "God will hold you to account, Mr. President"[18] or for wearing "anti-war" or "anti-Bush" t-shirts.[19] And lest we forget the more than 1800 protestors jailed during the August 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City for the crime of...protesting the president.

Moreover, by an Executive Order of the President of the United States and under the Patriot Act, a highly repressive law passed after September 11, 2001 by the US Congress, any non-US citizen " who has been deemed by the president to have been or have harbored a member of the al Qaeda organization, or anyone who has engaged in, aided, abetted, or conspired to commit acts of international terrorism, or acts that "threaten to cause, or have as their aim to cause injury to or adverse effects on the United States," is subject to trial in a military tribunal in accordance with rules and procedures to be established by the secretary of defense."[20] This means that the more than 18 million immigrants living in the United States, many of them legally, can be deemed by the President of the United States to have "aided and abetted" or somehow collaborated with "terrorists", which is under the sole discretion of the President, and detained indefinitely with no rights and subject to a military tribunal. Military tribunals do not respect rights to due process or even minimal civil or human rights.

So, basically, telling a US President he "sucks" could end you in Guantánamo, dressed in orange, with no rights.

But remember, the US holds a double standard when it comes to threatening the President. The laws only apply to the US President, and close allies of course. Discussing in detail plans to assassinate the Venezuelan President on US television carry no consequence. Even maintaining armed militia training camps in Miami led by ex-Venezuelan military officers who claim to be preparing to overthrow Chávez is encouraged by the US Government.[21] Such terrorists operate and live freely within US territory, and some even receive financing from the US Government.[22]

Attacks against Venezuela Continue

The attacks against the Venezuelan Government have only increased since January, and there is no expectation that they will cease at this point. Just days ago, the State Department released a report entitled "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The US Record 2004 - 2005", lauding its own efforts to promote democracy around the world, including efforts to invoke regime changes in some cases. The report condemns Venezuela as a human rights abuser, detrimental to democracy in the region. Its presenter, Michael Kozak, gave an ultimatum to the Venezuelan Government in his press conference, stating "If you wish to have a decent relationship with us, you will have to reorient aspects of your governance towards the right direction."[23]

Sounds like a threat, one that surely will not be heeded by the Venezuelan Government. But what is clear is that the bully tactics continue and finally, after the calls of many anti-Chávez groups in the US and Venezuela combined with the powerful lobby of the anti-Castro Cuban-American community in Miami, the Bush Administration has finally decided to look south. Venezuela, one of the top exporters of oil to the United States, may become the next target of a unilateral, preemptive strike. Hopefully, the country will be able to fend off US aggression, as it has successfully done in the past. Venezuela has regional support from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Cuba and even neighboring Colombia, despite the heavy US influence and military presence in that nation. Any type of conflict provoked by the Bush Administration against Venezuela would not be looked at favorably in the region, and surely would force a multilateral defense.

South America is more united today than ever before in history, and that is the true threat to the United States. As the Venezuelan Vice President, José Vicente Rangel, confirmed recently, "Latin America is no longer the backyard of the United States."

Eva Golinger, a Venezuelan-American attorney, is the author of "The Chávez Code: Cracking US Intervention in Venezuela", soon to be available through Amazon.com or directly through the author.

[1] See Declarations made by incoming Secretary of State Rice before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 18, 2005; See also Dow Jones Newswire, January 18, 2005, "Rice: Venezuela's Chávez ‘Negative Force' in the Region", "I think that we have to view at this point the government of Venezuela as a negative force in the region," Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday during her confirmation hearing. "We can, I think, work with others to expose that, and say to President Chavez that this kind of behavior is really not acceptable in this Hemisphere that is trying to make its way toward a stable democratic future," Rice said.

[2] National Review, April 11, 2005 Edition

[3] http://www.miami.com/mld/elnuevo/11182313.htm,
http://www.miami.com/mld/elnuevo/11219469.htm,
http://www.miami.com/mld/elnuevo/11188195.htm,
http://www.miami.com/mld/elnuevo/11196558.htm,
http://www.miami.com/multimedia/miami/elnu...fica_ocando.pdf

[4] This is a satirical comment.

[5] See CIA Debriefing of Félix Rodríguez, June 3, 1975. When Che Guevara was executed in La Higuera, one CIA official was present - a Cuban-American operative named Félix Rodríguez. Rodríguez, who used the codename "Félix Ramos" in Bolivia and posed as a Bolivian military officer, was secretly debriefed on his role by the CIA's office of the Inspector General in June, 1975. (At the time the CIA was the focus of a major Congressional investigation into its assassination operations against foreign leaders.) In this debriefing - discovered in a declassified file marked 'Félix Rodríguez' by journalist David Corn - Rodríguez recounts the details of his mission to Bolivia where the CIA sent him, and another Cuban-American agent, Gustavo Villoldo, to assist the capture of Guevara and destruction of his guerrilla band.

[6] See "Former CIA Agent Affirms Possibility of Chávez's Assassination in Venezuela", by Gregory Wilpert; and The Washington Post, "Venezuela's Anti-Bush Fears Assassination", by Jefferson Morely, March 16, 2005.

[7] On the program, Orlando Urdaneta stated, "Of the 150,000 men in uniform in Venezuela, there must be a high percentage of honest people who, in the right moment, will rise up...But this will only happen with the physical disappearance of the "top dog" and a significant part of his pack. There is no room for doubt: there is no other way out. Physical disappearance, definitely." When prompted by the program host as to how this would happen, Urdaneta replied, "This happens with a few men with long guns that have telescopic views, that won't fail...It's an order that I am giving right at this moment, let's go, hurry up..." See: "Orlando Urdaneta llama al magnicidio desde Miami", 02 Noviembre 2004, Temas.

[8] "Noriega anuncia campaña para alertar sobre Chávez en la región", El Universal, 2 de marzo, 2005.

[9] See "Public Diplomacy and Covert Propaganda: the Declassified Record of Ambassador Otto Juan Reich File", A National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book, March 2, 2001.

[10] Ibid, United States Department of State Memorandum from Otto Reich to Department of Defense Officer Ray Warren, March 5, 1985.

[11] See Ibid, United States General Accounting Office Report Otober 1987, State's Administration of Certain Public Diplomacy Contracts.

[12] See "El Código Chávez: Descifrando la Intervención de los EEUU en Venezuela", por Eva Golinger, p.193, Editorial Ciencias Sociales, Cuba 2005.

[13] See my website, for declassified US Government documents revealing intervention in Venezuela.

[14] Top Secret CIA SIEB brief available on www.venezuelafoia.info, revealing US government knowledge of and involvement in the coup against President Chávez.

[15] Confidential document from the Secretary of State's office in Washington to Western Hemisphere Affairs Diplomatic Posts, the National Security Council, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Pentagon, the Secretary of Defense, Southern Command Unit, and the US Embassies in the Vatican, Madrid, London, Geneva and its Mission before the United Nations, dated April 14, 2002 and classified through April 14, 2012. Obtained by the author under the Freedom of Information Act.

[16] CIA Top Secret Senior Intelligence Brief, April 1, 2002.

[17] (Excerpt from an AP wire story dated October 30, 1996) "CHICAGO (AP) - ... (two people) were arrested July 2 at the Taste of Chicago fair after President Clinton approached them and ... responded with a rude remark. She said the remark was, ' "You suck and those boys died,'' ' in reference to the June 25 attack of a US installation in Saudi Arabia that left 19 American airmen dead. Secret Service agents initially said they heard something else that could have been taken as a threat against the president. Police said the (couple) were arrested for persisting to shout profanities while being questioned.

[18] (From the Washington Times, 12/27/96, page A5.)"God will hold you to account, Mr. President." " - Rev. Rob Shenck, to President Clinton during a Christmas Eve church service at the Washington National Cathedral, referring to the president's veto of a ban on partial-birth abortion. After the service, Rev. Shenck was detained by Secret Service agents who accused him of threatening the President's life.

[19] "...the antiwar-T-shirt-clad mother of a slain soldier was pulled out of a Laura Bush speech in New Jersey and threatened with arrest. A West Virginia couple was detained by the Secret Service for wearing anti-Bush T-shirts at a July 4 rally..." "Thou Dost Protest Too Much: An old law turns protesters into threats against the president." By Jonathan M. Katz.

[20] "Military Tribunals for Suspected Terrorists Raise Question of Justice Versus Rights" by Anna Gawel.

[21] See The Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2003, "Miami's Little Havana Finds New Foe in Venezuelan Leader", by José de Córdoba.

[22] The Cuban American National Foundation, known for its history of terrorist attacks and assassination attempts against the Cuban Government is heavily financed by the National Endowment for Democracy and USAID.

[23] http://www.miami.com/mld/elnuevo/news/brea...ws/11250934.htm.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/040105N.shtml

This sounds like Chavez knows something more than we do at this point. Once a nation is tagged the 'invader' of the planet, I can't blame anybody for gearing up to the bullying giant... BushCo.



http://www.eluniversal.com/2005/04/08/en_p...08A549557.shtml

Chávez says he will not kneel down before the US
Caracas, Friday April 08 , 2005

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Friday said he wished he could avoid a conflict with the United States, but warned he is not willing to kneel down before anyone.

Further, he downplayed calls by pro-government officials trying to foster hatred against the US. Rather he urged Venezuelans to love the fatherland, news agency DPA reported.

"Asymmetric conflict is there; it is all around us. We would not like it to continue. I wish we could avoid it with dignity for I am certainly not going to kneel down before anybody. I am the president of people who want freedom, and I have to be true to my people."

Chávez insisted that a war conflict with the US may take place in the event of an armed invasion by "those who want to be the masters of the world."

Or he could just be a demagogue trying to distract his people from other problems.

No, that is way too cynical an attitude!

Source: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Date: 30 Mar 2005
More Colombians fleeing to Venezuela's cities, says UNHCR
By Grace Guerrero
With inputs from Margaret Buhajczyk
UNHCR Regional Office in Venezuela


CARACAS, Venezuela, March 30 (UNHCR) – Rising numbers of refugees and asylum seekers are moving to urban Venezuela, citing security concerns and economic difficulties in the border region. While isolated border communities continue to be the first destination of people fleeing the Colombian conflict, UNHCR has noticed a considerable increase in the number of individuals who seek protection in bigger cities like Maracaibo and Caracas.

In Caracas, the UN refugee agency registered more than 700 asylum seekers last year, almost double the number registered in 2003. These asylum seekers come from a wide range of countries, including Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but up to 85 percent are victims of the Colombian conflict.

"In the cities, they feel more secure by being unidentified within a larger population," explains UNHCR programme officer Andres Ramirez. "They also believe they can find more economic opportunities to survive there."

The profile of asylum seekers has changed, according to Mayris Balza, a representative of UNHCR's implementing partner, Cáritas de Venezuela. The fact that large urban centres might provide more employment opportunities for trained professionals is also an important factor in their decision. "The first thing they say is 'I want to work', yet these people are not farmers and they have different expectations and needs in terms of lifestyle," says Balza.

"The people we receive in our office normally have high social profiles in Colombia. The majority are professionals, human rights activists, union leaders or lawyers," she notes. "They come to the cities because they no longer feel safe at the border. They fear that irregular armed groups can easily identify and persecute them in these areas and that's why they choose to relocate to urban centres."

Hector Fabio Rojano*, a Colombian asylum seeker, was a truck driver in the village of Codazzi, but had to flee in 2001 to Ureña because of the pressure of many different armed groups. "The persecution that I suffered made me flee across the border, there again I was threatened, probably I was still too close to Colombia, so I decided to come to Caracas," he says.

Refugee Luuisa Patricia Rodriguez* feels that the border communities are not very safe. "I wanted to get away from Colombia as far as possible, but I did not manage, Colombia was still just on the other side of the border," she says. "If they wanted, they could also locate us here. I still felt the fear."

Rodriguez shares her difficulties in finding work, even with the certificates issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "When I look for work, they ask for my cédula [Venezuelan identity card]. I tried to work as a hotel maid, but without legal documents, they would not hire me. My husband does not earn enough money, and we cannot afford to pay for the necessary fees in order to obtain identity cards."

"There is a general belief that work opportunities largely depend on the size of a community – the more people live in a certain area, the more opportunities may appear," Ramirez says. Furthermore, "refugees usually think there are more and better facilities in urban areas and it might be easier to advance one's education with the support of existing government social and education programmes." Unfortunately, simply moving to the cities does not protect refugees from problems like discrimination, xenophobia and unemployment that they faced in the rural areas near the border.

"In Venezuela, the Colombians are generally misperceived as criminals, drug traffickers or members of illegal armed groups," says Balza. "Therefore, due to the current economic situation in Venezuela and the lack of official documentation, it is difficult for the refugees to find a house or a job."

Asylum seeker Rojano faced similar problems trying to obtain a Venezuelan driver's license. He could not apply for it without an official identity card.

UNHCR is working with Cáritas de Venezuela to help urban asylum seekers and refugees like Rodriguez and Rojano to escape this vicious cycle and overcome their problems. The agencies offer legal advice on asylum procedures to help them claim their basic rights. They also provide humanitarian assistance to meet basic needs in the areas of health and emergency shelter. In addition, asylum seekers and refugees benefit from income-generating activities supported by micro-credit programmes, especially in urban areas where job opportunities are scarce. In the past, these types of projects were limited to people living in the border areas.

"Urban refugees have proved to be very resilient and prefer to work hard to achieve self reliance rather than to become dependent on humanitarian assistance," concludes Ramirez.

* Not their real names

With all the profits that ChevronTexaco makes and they don't pay taxes??? Well, now on top of everything else that gets passed down to the consumer, guess once Chavez nails their tax on them, more the reasons to raise gas prices here.


http://www.forbes.com/business/healthcare/.../ap1945209.html

Associated Press

Venezuelan Threatens to Charge Oil Cos.
04.13.2005, 06:43 PM

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that the government may charge private oil companies taxes on operations that have declared losses in recent years amid an ongoing investigation by the country's tax agency.

Venezuela's tax agency, Seniat, began an investigation this month on private oil companies that have declared losses and have not paid income tax to Venezuela's government in years

"There are operating contracts that do not pay income tax," said Chavez during a pro-government forum in Caracas. "We could even charge retroactively, pay taxes!"

Venezuela signed 33 operating service agreements in the 1990s with companies such as There are operating contracts that do not pay income tax," said Chavez during a pro-government forum in Caracas. "We could even charge retroactively, pay taxes!"

Venezuela signed 33 operating service agreements in the 1990s with companies such as ChevronTexaco, British Petroleum, Total, Petrobras, Repsol YPF, Royal Dutch Shell and China National Petroleum Corp. , British Petroleum, Total, Petrobras, Repsol YPF, Royal Dutch Shell and China National Petroleum Corp.

http://english.eluniversal.com/2005/04/20/...20A552993.shtml

United States at odds over the sale of Russian weapons to Venezuela
Related articles

United States is opposed to the sale of Russian weapons to Latin America, particularly Venezuela, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.

During an official visit to Russia, the US top official spoke up after a meeting and luncheon with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The minister replied that the military cooperation does not violate any international agreement entered into by Russia.

Soooo, THAT's why she's over there, flapping her skirts at Putin!

I've noticed she seems a bit "unfocused" in the last couple weeks since the "honeymoon" is over....Stiletto heels on yer big toe just go sooooo far.

And, WHAT do you think Bolton/Rove have on Condi to solicit her "praise" of this sadistic little slug for Ambassador?

Well if she's humpin' for world 'piece', I hope she's not responsible for spreading the bird flu.


I have no idea what any of them are thinking, only to better self serve themselves and the hell with the rest of the folks stuck in BushWorld. Their absolute idiots... it totally amazes me. :no:

If you hadn't read this article yet mommadona, it's a must read. Brings it right down to the level of this embesal administration.

http://antiwar.com/hadar/?articleid=5403

March 31, 2005
Condi Rice Talks Down to Europe, Asia
by Leon Hadar

During her meetings with foreign leaders in Washington and the many world capitals she has visited recently, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sounded like a kindergarten teacher warning rowdy kids that if they won't behave, they could end up standing in the "Axis of Evil" corner. Meanwhile, those who had learned by heart the entire Inaugural Address of President George W. Bush earned her admiration.

..... And that, my friends, should not be construed as "cynicism." Like your kindergarten teacher and other saintly figures, America works in mysterious ways. One day when you grow up, you'll understand.

Very good. When I get a tweek in a paradigm, I consider the piece worthy and this one isa tweeker.

Thank you.

Doesn't it make one's heart all warm to see decades of hard work with already strained USA relations with Venezuela and Cuba going down the tubes thanks to our blundering BushCo?

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0429-02.htm

Cuban, Venezuelan Leaders Woo Latin American Nations to Trade Pact Minus U.S. Leadership

by Anita Snow
published on Friday, April 29, 2005 by the Associated Press

HAVANA -- Hoping to create a model for developing nations across the Western Hemisphere, the leftist presidents of Cuba and Venezuela strengthened their economic ties and promoted an alternative trade pact not led by the United States.

The meeting between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro in Cuba coincided with an international meeting here of opponents to the U.S.-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA, which failed to take effect as scheduled early this year.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (center left) and Cuban President Fidel Castro, the two presidents stood before hundreds of officials and business people from both nations to sign a document further expanding their countries' cooperation under the Bolivarian Alternative trade pact Thursday evening April 28, 2005. As part of the agreement, Cuba is to help the South American nation train thousands of new doctors and develop its hospital network. The meeting between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro in Cuba coincided with an international meeting here of opponents to the U.S.-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA, which failed to take effect as scheduled early this year. (AP Photo/Jorge Rey)
Both men were addressing the gathering Friday morning.

"Venezuela used to be an American colony," Chavez told business people from his country Thursday at a trade fair exhibiting their products here. "Now we are liberated, we are free to make these commercial integration agreements with all countries."

U.S. officials have expressed alarm over the deepening alliance between Castro and Chavez, saying that Venezuela has become increasingly authoritarian as it tightens its links to communist Cuba.

VENEZUELA: Chavez ends US military exchange program Green Left Weekly

Any acts of war or aggression between Columbia and Venezuela will be suspected as US / BushCo stands behind Columbia's efforts in such.


http://english.eluniversal.com/2005/05/07/...07A558091.shtml

Sovereign war

The army has postulated a war with the United States; hence the necessary changes in the policy of military alliances

FRANCISCO OLIVARES
EL UNIVERSAL

Recent procurement of weapons, the establishment of military reserve, and the statements of senior military officers, government speakers and the Venezuelan President show that Venezuela has anticipated a potential war with the United States, through Colombia.

Government analysts are aware that the United States has no reason to seek the support of the US people for a direct conflict with Venezuela. There is no way to persuade them of the need to invade Venezuela. But the Venezuelan government does anticipate a potential military escalation through Colombia, protected and supported by the United States. It is a possibility in terms of defense, because Colombia is the major US ally in South America and world experience shows that the United States has used third parties to face potential foes.

Therefore, the Venezuelan government is getting ready. One of the first steps included standardization of military equipment relative to its major military ally, i.e., Cuba. Hence the decision of buying Russian AK 103 and 104, 7.62 x 39 mm rifles.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/car...-news-caribbean

Anti-U.S. bitterness spreads

Activist's case reflects enmity felt by Chávez toward Bush

By Carol J. Williams
Los Angeles Times
Posted May 26 2005

CARACAS, Venezuela · The case of pro-democracy activist María Corina Machado, who goes to court next month on charges of treason and conspiracy, illustrates how far the U.S. image has fallen in the nine months since President Hugo Chávez defeated a recall effort.

Relations between Washington and the leftist Venezuelan president, who has declared a "revolution for the poor" against alleged Yankee imperialist oppression, have never been smooth. But since defeating the recall effort, Chávez has become even more antagonistic.

Although average Venezuelans have long had cordial relations with U.S. citizens, the steady drumbeat of anti-American appears to be eroding that legacy.

A poll released in early May by the independent Datanalysis company here indicated that 43 percent of respondents were critical of Bush and less than 12 percent approved of his policies.

"This is unprecedented, that so many Venezuelans have critical views of the United States, and it shows that Chávez's anti-imperialist rhetoric is penetrating all groups," said the polling company's director, Luis Vicente Leon.

Don't ya just love those secret covert operations?
:no:

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200505/2...529_187342.html

Venezuela accuses US of new destabilization campaign
May 29, 2005

Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel on Saturday accused the United States of supporting the opposition to launch a new destabilization campaign in the country.

The main target of the US-financed campaign is Venezuela's state-run petroleum company PDVSA, Rangel said, adding that a second target is the country's poor, to whom the United States is providing assistance.

Meanwhile, the United States also instigated Venezuela's military to rise against the government, backing it with media propaganda and financing, said Rangel, who described Washington asa "terror exporter."

The opposition is preparing a "second assault on PDVSA," said Rangel. He accused the United States of supporting the April 2002coup d'etat against President Hugo Chavez and the national strike that paralyzed the country's oil industry at the end of 2002.

Rangel made the remarks during a demonstration in the capital to demand the extradition by the United States of a Cuban exile wanted by Caracas for the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people.

The protest came one day after the United States rejected Venezuela's request that Luis Posada Carriles, the Cuban exile with Venezuelan citizenship, be arrested and extradited to Venezuela to face trial.

The protesters also voiced their support for the PDVSA, the economic pillar of the oil-rich country which has faced charges ofcorruption and mismanagement from opponents of Chavez in recent weeks. :no:

US, Venezuela clash at OAS meeting Xinhua

Looks like compassion on oil pricing will come to Latin America. That's one way to make friends... don't gouge them. Wonder what the BushCon's will think about this?


http://www.thestandard.com.hk/stdn/std/World/GG01Wd07.html

Cut-price oil gives Chavez more muscle

Diego Urdaneta

July 1, 2005

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, with Cuba's Fidel Castro by his side, launched Petrocaribe, a cut-rate oil diplomacy vehicle that could greatly increase Chavez's regional influence.

Chavez promised highly preferential oil pricing for the 14 Caribbean members, with Venezuela picking up 40 percent of the cost if oil is selling at more than US$50 (HK$390) a barrel, as it is now.

If it should hit US$100 a barrel, Chavez said, "we would pay 50 percent for signatory countries, with a grace period extended from one to two years.''

He also pledged to foot the bill for shipping oil to Petrocaribe participants directly, and to help set up local storage facilities across the Caribbean.

Venezuela - OPEC's lone Latin American member - has a production quota of 3.1 million barrels a day