Venezuela News Archive:
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Archives: 7/05 - 12/05

Crystallex part of dirty war against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias  12/11/2005 Vheadlines 

American navy 'helped Venezuelan coup'  12/10/2005 Guardian: "Wayne Madsen, a former intelligence officer with the US navy, told the Guardian yesterday that American military attaches had been in touch with members of the Venezuelan military to examine the possibility of a coup. "I first heard of Lieutenant Colonel James Rogers [the assistant military attache now based at the US embassy in Caracas] going down there last June to set the ground," Mr Madsen, an intelligence analyst, said yesterday. "Some of our counter-narcotics agents were also involved." "

Politics or Not, Bronx Warmly Receives Venezuelan Heating Oil  12/9/2005 Washington Post 

The Venezuelan Election - Chavez Wins, Bush Loses (Again)! Now What?  12/8/2005 Counterpunch 

Venezuelan Oil Pipeline Attacked for Election Day  12/5/2005 Venezuela Analysis 

Venezuelan oil for U.S. poor plan criticized  12/3/2005 Miami Herald: "''Mr. Delahunt's lobbying for the dictator undermines any official U.S. pressure on Mr. Chávez to behave more humanely, which is precisely why Mr. Chávez is returning the favor by plying Mr. Delahunt with cheap oil,'' the Journal asserted. ``Leave it to the congressman . . . and a Kennedy to close the deal.''"

Open Letter to the Journalists Covering the Venezuelan Elections  12/2/2005 TPM Café 

Venezuela clinches Spain defence deal  11/29/2005 FT: "José Bono, Spanish defence minister, defended Spain’s right to sell the military hardware to Venezuela and insisted that the equipment was of a defensive nature. Washington could still block the inclusion of some US-made components in the equipment. Mr Bono said neither the boats nor transport aircraft were armed and that the patrol aircraft were only equipped for self-defence. He also suggested the US had no right to pass judgment. Mr Chávez has said the vessels and aircraft will be used to combat the drug trade in Venezuela, which borders Colombia, the world’s top cocaine producer."

U.S. May Prevent Military Sale to Rival - Washington's feud with Venezuela may lead it to block Spain's plan to deal boats and aircraft containing American technology to Caracas.  11/24/2005 LA Times 

Venezuela releases blueprint on Africa  11/23/2005 SF Bay View 

African Intellectuals Vow to Defend Bolivarian Revolution  11/23/2005 The Post, Lusaka, Zambia: ""The very nature of the Bolivarian Revolution and its genuiness has given rise to hatred and to the resulting threat from the government of the United States of America," the declaration stated. "In view of the above, we, the intellectuals of Africa, have determined and indeed, shall make every effort to disseminate information on the social achievements of the Bolivarian Revolution and shall condemn the threat of any possible attack by the United States against Venezuela and attempt to assassinate its leader, Hugo Chavez." The delegates condemned efforts by the United States to re-colonise Africa, the Middle East and Latin America with the sole purpose of taking control of the strategic energy and mineral resources abundant in the three regions. They condemned attempts by the United States to take control of the Amazonia, the largest biosphere and drinking water reserve on Earth. They agreed that Latin American countries should collaborate with Africa in the development of its health infrastructure through the training of doctors, health specialists and technicians. The delegates agreed to promote new channels of information in order to meet the needs of the peoples of Africa. They acknowledged the creation of Telesur, a Latin American television network, as a highly positive first step to that end."

Venezuela Releases Blueprint On Africa  11/22/2005 The Post, Lusaka, Zambia 

The Rose That Is a Thorn in Chávez's Side '  11/19/2005 Washington Post 

CITGO to Begin Discounted Heating Oil Distribution to Poor U.S. Communities  11/18/2005 Venezuela Analysis 

Nuevo giro en asesinato de fiscal venezolano  11/10/2005 Nuevo Herald: "Un testigo del gobierno de Venezuela en la investigación de la muerte del fiscal Danilo Anderson, aseguró que un director del FBI de apellido Pesquera y un funcionario de la CIA a quien sólo identificó como Morrison, participaron en una reunión en Panamá en la que se planeó el asesinato del funcionario… Vásquez, quien se identificó como médico colombiano militante de las Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), dijo que Pesquera y Morrison estuvieron presentes entre el 4 y el 6 de septiembre del 2003 en una reunión que se realizó en Darién, una provincia panameña limítrofe con Colombia. A la misma reunión asistieron además, según Vásquez, la periodista Patricia Poleo como representante del Movimiento Libertad; Salvador Romaní, hijo del líder anticastrista del mismo nombre que actualmente reside en Miami; los ex policías Rolando Guevara, Otoniel Guevara y Pedro Lander; el actor Orlando Urdaneta, el capitán Luis García como representante de la organización anticastrista Comando F4, e Israel Pincheski como representante de los banqueros. ''Allí se discutió el plan apoyado por el FBI y la CIA'', continuó Vásquez, ``y algunos presidentes de medios de comunicación para sacar a Chávez del gobierno. En esa misma reunión se dice que el objetivo final era matar al presidente Chávez, al fiscal general y a un connotado líder opositor de apellido Mendoza''."

AFRICA-VENEZUELA: Weaving New Alliances with Cultural Threads  10/28/2005 IPS: "Venezuela, the biggest oil producer in Latin America and the fifth biggest in the world, has launched an offensive to forge closer diplomatic ties with Africa, initially focusing on political and cultural questions while leaving the matter of energy cooperation to the future… The next step is a Nov. 13-20 cultural festival that Venezuela will host in Caracas, with the participation of a dozen African artistic and cultural groups like the Benin national ballet company and Gnaoua musicians from Morocco, as well as a number of Venezuelan groups and artists. "Venezuela, like other Latin American countries, owes a spiritual debt to Africa," Jesús García, president of the non-governmental Afroamérica Foundation, told IPS. "Thousands of slaves from the Wolof ethnic group of Senegal or the Mina from the (West African) equatorial coast came to this country." The festival "gives us a chance to eradicate the 'Tarzan-like' vision of Africa that we still have in Venezuela, where we often see it merely as a primitive continent with enormous needs. We want African intellectuals to come and show us their reality," said García. In the activist's view, the government's offensive provides an opportunity to support intergovernmental efforts by promoting agreements between universities, parliaments, regional authorities and city governments in Africa and Venezuela, "and with the rest of the region, in search of a new relationship with Latin America and the Caribbean as well." "

Venezuela forges closer diplomatic, political and cultural ties with Africa  10/28/2005 Vheadlines 

U.S. Continues to Block Venezuelan Defense Development  10/24/2005 Venezuela Analysis]: "The U.S. government's efforts to stop Venezuela purchasing arms come against a background of massive sales to Venezuela's neighbor Columbia. The U.S. has provided the Colombians with over $700 million worth of weapons in the past several years free of charge. These have included helicopter attack ships, assault rifles, and other advanced weapons."

France and Venezuela Agree to Promote “Multipolar” World, Says Chavez  10/21/2005 Venezuela Analysis 

Venezuela solicitará extradición de Pat Roberson  10/16/2005 Aporrea: Pat Robertson on trial in Caracas…

Venezuela defends expulsion of US missionary  10/15/2005 The News, Pakistan: "Venezuela’s vice president defended a decision to expel a US-based Christian missionary group from the country on Thursday, saying members of the New Tribes Mission had links to the CIA, a charge the organization strongly denied. Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel spoke a day after President Hugo Chavez announced he was ordering the group to leave, citing US "imperialist infiltration." "We have intelligence reports that that some of them are CIA," Rangel told reporters. "The president’s decision was based on reports that their actions create situations that compromise the country’s sovereignty.""

A Real Racial Democracy? Hugo Chávez and the Politics of Race  10/15/2005 Venezuela Analysis: "Venezuelan elites," one scholar has remarked, "judged people by their appearances. Accordingly, individuals with 'anxious hair' or 'hair like springs' lived in the shadow of their black slave ancestors. The elites considered respectable the whiter Venezuelans who had 'hair flat as rainwater, of an indefinite light brown color which is neither fair nor dark.'" Though some blacks were able to enter white society through marriage and miscegenation, "in the long run, such individuals provided the exceptions that proved the rule." Blacks who sought social acceptance had to adopt the clothing, education, and language of the white elite. In present day Venezuelan society, notes respected commentator Gregory Wilpert, "The correspondence between skin color and class membership is quite stunning at times. To confirm this observation, all one has to do is compare middle to upper class neighborhoods, where predominantly lighter colored folks live, with the barrios, which are clearly predominantly inhabited by darker skinned Venezuelans." Meanwhile, journalist Greg Palast noted that rich whites had "command of the oil wealth, the best jobs, the English-language lessons, the imported clothes, the vacations in Miami, the plantations."

A Real Racial Democracy? Hugo Chávez and the Politics of Race   10/15/2005 Venezuela Analysis: "Venezuelan elites," one scholar has remarked, "judged people by their appearances. Accordingly, individuals with 'anxious hair' or 'hair like springs' lived in the shadow of their black slave ancestors. The elites considered respectable the whiter Venezuelans who had 'hair flat as rainwater, of an indefinite light brown color which is neither fair nor dark.'" Though some blacks were able to enter white society through marriage and miscegenation, "in the long run, such individuals provided the exceptions that proved the rule." Blacks who sought social acceptance had to adopt the clothing, education, and language of the white elite. In present day Venezuelan society, notes respected commentator Gregory Wilpert, "The correspondence between skin color and class membership is quite stunning at times. To confirm this observation, all one has to do is compare middle to upper class neighborhoods, where predominantly lighter colored folks live, with the barrios, which are clearly predominantly inhabited by darker skinned Venezuelans." Meanwhile, journalist Greg Palast noted that rich whites had "command of the oil wealth, the best jobs, the English-language lessons, the imported clothes, the vacations in Miami, the plantations."

Papua New Guinea: New Tribe Missionaries Raided  10/14/2005 Eco-Action: the same New Tribes Mission being expelled from Venezuela is not loved in the Pacific either: "New Tribe Missionaries Raided (11/10/02) More than fifty people took direct action against the New Tribes Mission (NTM) UK Headquarters in Grimsby, in solidarity with resistant indigenous people of the Philippines and Papua. NTM have stated that they intend to preach to every tribe on the planet by 2025, such as the Agta of Northern Luzon and tribes in Mindanao. NTM build airstrips in jungles, have their own planes to ferry first missionaries and then businessmen, Coca Cola and the military. First comes Christianity and then corporations. Indigenous movements in West Papua have declared missionaries one of the 'Four Enemies of Tribal People' and say that they are as responsible as mining or logging companies for ecological and cultural destruction. The activists visited NTM wearing West Papuan masks, invaded and occupied the offices. They severely outnumbered the missionaries working there. Essential information and equipment was removed which will prove valuable to research for resistance to NTM. Other people sabotaged and damaged essential computer hardware, software and other office equipment; others argued with workers; others demonstrated outside or in the village nearby with banners. A timing device was planted in a toilet that later opened a valve on the cold water supply leading to flood damage during Friday night and Saturday morning. All the protestors left the scene without arrest, although missionaries attempted - and failed - to stop people leaving. Following the action the cult pulled some strings and the cops raided nearly half a dozen properties over a period of four months. Around twenty people were arrested, but police attempts to frame people failed, and at the time of writing all but one of the cases has been dropped."

Missionaries facing expulsion from Venezuela deny C-I-A ties  10/14/2005 KWWL, Iowa 

Hunting the hunters - Indians massacred  10/14/2005 New Internationalist: more on New Tribes (scroll down near end): "Survival International, a UK-based group that works to defend the rights of tribal peoples, does not believe that the missionaries are medically equipped to deal with the consequences of this encounter. The missionaries are the New Tribes Mission (NTM), an organization which has attracted repeated criticism. Based in the US state of Florida it has over 2,500 missionaries, a $12 million budget for ‘tribal evangelism’ and a worldwide network of outposts. The NTM describes itself as a ‘fundamental missionary society, composed of born-again believers and dedicated to the evangelization of unreached tribal people’. In Latin America, the NTM has mission bases in Panama, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. It also operates in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Senegal, Thailand and Japan."

US unfazed by Venezuela's talk of nukes  10/13/2005 CSM 

President Chavez claims US evangelicals gather sensitive and strategic information  10/13/2005 Vheadlines: ""They will leave Venezuela," President Hugo Chavez Frias said. "They are agents of imperialist penetration ... they gather sensitive and strategic information and are exploiting the Indians. So they will leave, and I don't care two hoots about the international consequences that this decision could bring." New Tribes, an evangelical organization that has long had close ties with the U.S.-based Summer Institute of Linguistics, is active in a number of countries in Asia and Latin America, and in Venezuela has focused its efforts on the Yanomami, Ye'kuana and Panare indigenous groups and other ethnic communities in the southern part of the country. The Summer Institute of Linguistics was founded in 1934 with the declared purpose of translating the Bible into indigenous languages."

Parade Magazine's Chavez Smear Venezuelan president a terrorist funder?  10/12/2005 FAIR: dissection of two lies: ""In the wake of the collapse of the USSR, which bankrolled him to the tune of $4 billion a year, Castro has turned to Hugo Chavez, Marxist president of Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter. In addition to shoring up Castro, he's funding revolutionaries and terrorists throughout Latin America.""

Venezuela labels Robertson 'insane'  10/11/2005 Herald Sun, Australia: "This man is insane at the very least. This is absurd," Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said. "Some policies up north force one to look at them not through the usual political analysis, but with a team of psychiatrists, psychologists and even shamans," he said."

TV evangelist renews Chavez attacks  10/10/2005 AFP: "PROMINENT US TV evangelist Pat Robertson has accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of giving Osama bin Laden $US1.2 million after the September 11 attacks and of trying to obtain nuclear material from Iran."

Chávez moves reserves out of US Treasuries  10/5/2005 Financial Times 

Venezuela to Ship More Gasoline to U.S.  10/4/2005 AP 

Venezuelans tortured by Posada Carriles present their cases  10/3/2005 Granma: "Venezuelans tortured by terrorist of Cuban origin are today preparing the files of their cases and those of disappeared comrades in order to support the demand for the criminal’s extradition. Jesús Marrero, coordinator of the group of victims affected by Posada during the years in which he had a high position in the Venezuelan political police (DISIP), explained to Prensa Latina that the initiative is an attempt to bring about justice. Marrero, who was tortured at the orders of Posada, considers the decision of the U.S. judge not to hand the criminal over to Venezuelan authorities under the pretext that he may be tortured, an insult to Posada’s victims."

Venezuela Denounces Bush Family Ties with Terrorists  10/1/2005 Prensa Latina: " Vice President of Venezuela José Vicente Rangel has accused the Bush family of ties with terrorists, especially criminal Luis Posada Carriles."

Chavez: Venezuela Moves Reserves to Europe  9/30/2005 AP: "Venezuela has moved its central bank foreign reserves out of U.S. banks, liquidated its investments in U.S. Treasury securities and placed the funds in Europe, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday. "We've had to move the international reserves from U.S. banks because of the threats," from the U.S., Chavez said during televised remarks from a South American summit in Brazil."

Venezuela’s Ambassador: “Posada Carriles is the Osama Bin Laden of Latin America”  9/30/2005 Venezuela Analysis: “The United States presents itself as a leader against terrorism, invades countries, restricts the civil rights of Americans in order to fight terrorism, but when it is about its own terrorists, it denies that they be tried,” said Alvarez.

U.S. Government Charade Will Result in Denial of Posada Extradition  9/26/2005 NarcoNews: "The real struggle in the case seems to be over Posada’s potential release from prison. Garrett-Jackson wanted as much evidence as possible of Posada’s past deeds in the record in order to apparently establish him as a threat to the national security of the United States and as a terrorist. But since Archambeault waived the issue with respect to withholding, the judge may require that the U.S. Government’s evidence be ignored. In that case, the way may be clear for Posada’s release. Without a finding that Posada is a terrorist or a threat to national security, it will make it much easier for him to win his freedom."

'Terrorist Administration' - Chavez attacks Bush, and warns about oil prices.  9/26/2005 Newsweek: Interview with Chavez - "He's a populist on the Castro model who wants to steer Latin America firmly to the left." [That's why Venezuela has not abolished private property, confiscated corporate holdings, or implemented other Cuban-style measures?]

A Bolivarian Socialist at the UN Hugo Chavez's Mission  9/24/2005 Counterpunch 

VENEZUELA ON TRIAL INSTEAD OF THE TERRORIST An interview with Attorney Jose Pertierra  9/20/2005 Cuba Now 

Evangelicals in Venezuela: Robertson Only the Latest Controversy In a Long and Bizarre History  9/19/2005 COHA: "Curiously, in that same year, the New Tribes missionaries abandoned their villages along the Negro River and settled in the Guayana Shield, where deposits of radioactive minerals had been discovered. What is more, a tantalizing tidbit was provided by muckraking journalists Charlotte Dennett and Gerard Colby: “On Brazil’s border with Venezuela were uranium deposits that the [Brazilian] regime had targeted for the development of nuclear energy and, some feared, nuclear bombs.” They also claimed that the presence of uranium ore was found on the traditional lands of the Yanomami, the largest unacculturated tribe in the Brazilian Amazon. Also present in the adjoining area was the Summer Institute of Linguistics, a New Tribes ally as well as an evangelical missionary organization in its own right, that specialized in translating the Bible into local dialects. Its adherents could be found among the Yanomami in Venezuela, where they were studying the languages of the region from their Porto Velho base in Brazil. Writing to Venezuela’s Minister of Justice, Justo expressed his concerns about the New Tribes. In the course of six years of residence, according to the official, the missionaries had nothing to show for their work and had not accomplished anything for the Indians. Justo was openly suspicious of the evangelicals, who would inexplicably abandon sites and move to other areas. “It makes one suspect,” he wrote, “that they [the New Tribes missionaries] have another objective.” New Tribes: A State within a State? New Tribes was fast on the road towards becoming a veritable transnational organization spanning much of Latin America. Operating in remote, far-flung areas, usually distant from the effective reach of the central government, the missionaries could count on every form of communication and transportation equipment, including aircraft. What’s more, New Tribes at the same time was indoctrinating indigenous tribes in other South American countries such as Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. In 1959, Acción Democrática returned to power and President Romulo Betancourt authorized the missionaries to operate in Amazonas. Eventually, the missionaries would be active in an immense zone encompassing not only this territory but also the states of Apure, Bolivar, and part of Monagas. In total, New Tribes had access to 30% of Venezuela’s national territory."

Move This Building to Another Country! Hurricane Hugo at the UN  9/19/2005 Counterpunch 

Chavez at the UN - by Hugo Chavez  9/18/2005 Znet: "Last January, of this year 2005, we were in World Social Forum in Porto Alegre. There, several personalities requested that the seat of United Nations be taken from the United States if that country continues to violate international legal norms. Today we know that there never were any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The American people has always been very scrupulous in their demand that their rulers be truthful with them. The other peoples have also made this demand. Even though there never were weapons of mass destruction, in spite of the United Nations' objections, Iraq was bombed, occupied, and continues to be occupied. For that reason we propose to this assembly that the United Nations should leave a country that does not respect the resolutions of its own assembly."

Frustrated U.S. Finds Few Willing to Join Anti-Chavez Coalition - Washington's agenda in the region proves less appealing than cheap Venezuelan oil.  9/17/2005 LA Times 

U.S. Decertifies Venezuela on Drug Control  9/16/2005 Narcosphere: "It would seem, then, that the White House and State Department are using the drug war pretext to begin what could evolve into a Cuba-style economic blockade of Venezuela. At the very least, they are employing a tool that in the past has been quite effective for the political isolation of other countries, and, in the case of Panama in 1989, was part of the run-up to U.S. military invasion."

How United States Intervention in Venezuela Works, part 3 of 3 - Analysis of Four USAID Contracts with Republican and Democratic Party Foundations in Venezuela  9/11/2005 Venezuela Analysis 

How United States Intervention Against Venezuela Works, part 2 of 3 - Use of a Private U.S. Corporate Structure to Disguise a Government Program  9/8/2005 Venezuela Analysis 

How United States Intervention Against Venezuela Works, part 1 of 3 - Summary, CIA Electoral Interventions, and Nicaragua as a Model for Venezuela  9/6/2005 Venezuela Analysis: by Philip Agee

Venezuela's Citgo sets up hurricane relief centers  9/5/2005 KLFY, LA 

Venezuela to Sell U.S. More Fuel Because of Storm, Chavez Says  9/4/2005 Bloomberg 

USA has entered the first stage of civil war ... and there is no turning back now!  9/4/2005 Vheadlines: "What Rivera and the other reporters (on site in New Orleans) witnessed, I experienced in person in the devastation of the Venezuelan barrios in the 1970s ... raw sewage, dead rats, chickens and dogs and maggots and vomit sweeping through tin and cardboard, mud-floored shacks during heavy rains ... for days at a time ... and the stench of dead humans who were unable to afford medication ... dying alone in their improvised homes ... almost all dark skins ... the majority 80% of the Venezuelan population ... not like the Venezuelan Miss Universes we have so often seen ... who represent a small minority of what Venezuelan women look like ... while a majority of Venezuelan white skins and their cohorts raped the wealth of the country, partied endlessly, drank the "best" whiskies and smoked the "best" cigars, and treated the dark skins like slaves as a matter of custom, paid them undignified wages, way below poverty level ... and worse yet, spoke openly against the dark skins (and they still do today), calling them names such as thieves, lazy drunks and monkeys from the hills."

US Will Accept Venezuela's Offer of Aid for Hurricane Victims  9/2/2005 VOA: "A top U.S. State Department official says the United States will accept Venezuela's offer of humanitarian aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but does not view the offer as a signal of change in the strained relations between the two countries. The official made the comment to VOA Friday in a wide-ranging interview as he prepares to leave his post later this month. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Roger Noriega, says Washington has received offers of relief assistance in the wake of Hurricane Katrina from some 15 countries in the Americas, including Venezuela."

Venezuelan President Offers Aid For Katrina Victims  8/31/2005 AHN 

Venezuela promises discounted heating oil and free eye surgery to U.S. poor  8/31/2005 SF Bay View 

Venezuela: a Launch Pad for Muslim Extremism?  8/30/2005 Counterpunch: "Now, this is a curious figure. The total population of Venezuela as of July 2005 was, according to the CIA Factbook, about 25,375,000. The same source specifies that 98% of Venezuelans are Catholic or Protestant Christians, leaving 2% "other." Other sources give a Jewish population of 35,000, a Buddhist population of 25,000. This leaves half a million who are neither Christians, Jews, nor Buddhists. But the most substantial listing of Venezuelan religious population I've found doesn't give any information on Islam at all, and a Muslim site gives the figure of only 126,876 believers in Venezuela. I suppose there might be a large community of Arab Christian immigrants, but looks to me like Arostegui has simply done some math, found that the missing two percent amount to 507,000, and finds therein that "half-million strong" and threatening "Venezuelan Arab community" providing (in his fevered imagination) haven to the Muslim rogue-state agents."

Venezuela to seek legal action against Robertson  8/29/2005 Reuters: ""I announce that my government is going to take legal action in the United States ... to call for the assassination of a head of state is an act of terrorism." Chavez said in a televised speech. The fiery left-wing critic of Bush's foreign policy who frequently charges the U.S. government is plotting to kill him, called Robertson "crazy" and a "public menace." He said Venezuela could seek Robertson's extradition under international treaties and take its claim to the United Nations if the Bush administration did not act."

Jesse Jackson Says Venezuela No Threat, Praises Venezuelan Government Concerns  8/29/2005 Venezuela Analysis: "With regard to the question about whether Jackson shares Chavez’s complaint that the Bush administration is funding opposition civil society groups in Venezuela, Jackson said, “If [Venezuela’s] government were to fund opposition groups in the U.S., it would be unacceptable. Democracy demands that we play the game by one set of rules.” "

Campaign to ring Chavez alarm fails to resonate  8/28/2005 Reuters: "A congressional official, who asked not to be named because he was relating a private conversation, said a bipartisan delegation of U.S. legislators met Condoleezza Rice before she became secretary of state to urge her to reach out to Chavez. According to the official, Rice cut the lawmakers off and said, "We just don't like him." "

Fearing U.S. attack, Venezuela boosts its reserve forces 100,000 have enlisted; Washington calls talk of invasion unfounded  8/27/2005 Dallas Morning News 

Venezuela halts missionary permits  8/26/2005 Reuters 

Chávez taunts US with oil offer  8/25/2005 Guardian: "President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela hit back vigorously at calls by an ally of President George Bush for his assassination by offering cheap petrol to the poor of the US at a time of soaring fuel prices. In a typically robust response to remarks by the US televangelist Pat Robertson, Mr Chávez compared his detractors to the "rather mad dogs with rabies" from Cervantes' Don Quixote, and unveiled his plans to use Venezuela's energy reserves as a political tool."

Jesse Jackson to address Venezuela's National Assembly and Afro-Venezuelan groups  8/25/2005 Vheadlines: "During his 3-day trip to Venezuela commencing on Saturday, Jackson expects to meet up with Venezuelan religious leaders and Afro-Venezuelan organization representatives."

Pat and Hugo: The Real Story - Part 1 Rev. Robertson's Call to Assassinate Hugo Chavez  8/23/2005 Greg Palast: "And what seems to have gotten our Veep's knickers in a twist is not the price of oil, but who keeps the loot from the current band-busting spurt in prices. Chavez had his Congress pass another oil law, the "Law of Hydrocarbons," which changes the split. Right now, the oil majors - like PhillipsConoco - keep 84% of the proceeds of the sale of Venezuela oil; the nation gets only 16%. Chavez wanted to double his Treasury's take to 30%. And for good reason. Landless, hungry peasants have, over decades, drifted into Caracas and other cities, building million-person ghettos of cardboard shacks and open sewers. Chavez promised to do something about that. And he did. "Chavez gives them bread and bricks," one Venezuelan TV reporter told me. The blonde TV newscaster, in the middle of a publicity shoot, said the words "pan y ladrillos" with disdain, making it clear that she never touched bricks and certainly never waited in a bread line. But to feed and house the darker folk in those bread and brick lines, Chavez would need funds, and the 16% slice of the oil pie wouldn't do it. So the President of Venezuela demanded 30%, leaving Big Oil only 70%. Suddenly, Bill Clinton's ally in Caracas became Mr. Cheney's -- and therefore, Mr. Bush's -- enemy."

Televangelist Calls for Chavez' Death  8/22/2005 AP 

Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuela's president  8/22/2005 Media Matters: "He has destroyed the Venezuelan economy, and he's going to make that a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent. You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop. But this man is a terrific danger and the United ... This is in our sphere of influence, so we can't let this happen. We have the Monroe Doctrine, we have other doctrines that we have announced. And without question, this is a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us very badly. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

Senator takes Rumsfeld to task over Chavez criticism  8/20/2005 Financial Times: "A powerful Republican senator yesterday scolded Donald Rumsfeld, complaining that the US defence secretary's comments about Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president, could hurt anti-drug efforts in the region. The rebuke by Arlen Specter, chairman of the judiciary committee, comes at a crucial moment for both men. Mr Rumsfeld faces scrutiny for his conduct of the war in Iraq, while Mr Specter, a moderate sometimes distrusted by conservatives within his own party, is to lead next month's confirmation hearings of John Roberts, President George W. Bush's Supreme Court choice."

Specter meets Venezuelan leaders, discusses U.S. anti-drug agency  8/18/2005 AP 

Venezuela Says DEA Stole Equipment  8/18/2005 Venezuela Analysis: "The director of Venezuela’s drug control agency, the National Commission Against Illicit Drug Use (Conacuid), Luis Correa, said that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) removed equipment from the building it shared with Conacuid. Correa said the equipment involved 13 devices for tapping cell phone systems, which the DEA had donated to Conacuid several years ago."

Meeting Fidel: Close but No Cigar?  8/18/2005 Washington Post: "Specter's spokesman, William H. Reynolds, confirms that Specter was in Havana on Sunday in hopes of meeting with the aging Cuban dictator -- although it was a bit uncertain whether he succeeded. The excursion to the Cuban capital was a side trip on a visit to the region that also took him to the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, where suspected terrorists are held. He returned to Havana on Monday night and yesterday was in Venezuela, home to another American nemesis, President Hugo Chavez. Reynolds said Specter met two or three times in the past with Castro; the senator and the international pariah talked previously about drug interdiction."

Chavez makes US oil export threat  8/15/2005 BBC: "Oil exports to the US could stop amid growing tensions between the two countries, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has said. He described recent US government actions as "aggressive" in a speech at a youth festival in Caracas. As a result, Venezuelan oil "instead of going to the United States, could go elsewhere," he said. Venezuela exports about 1.3 million barrels a day to the US and is the world's fifth largest oil producer."

Anti-Chavez broadcasts get U.S. Congress backing  8/14/2005 Final Call 

Venezuela says Americans could be denied visas  8/12/2005 AP: "Rangel said DEA agents in Venezuela also worked with "unacceptable autonomy" while "detaining and interrogating Venezuelans" without notifying Venezuelan authorities. The vice president said DEA agents maintained "strange ties" with drug traffickers in Venezuela, which often serves as a corridor for Colombian cocaine destined for the United States and Europe."

Chavez revokes US agent immunity  8/12/2005 BBC: "Caracas has withdrawn the diplomatic immunity of US anti-drugs officials working in Venezuela. It follows a move by the US State Department to revoke the visas of six Venezuelan officials in Washington. Both countries are locked in a row after President Hugo Chavez accused the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of spying on his government."

Attack us if you dare, Venezuela warns U.S.  8/10/2005 Chicago Sun Times 

Chavez Accuses U.S. Drug Agents of Spying  8/8/2005 LA Times 

U.S. mulls sanctions on Venezuela over drug move  8/8/2005 Reuters 

Chávez: DEA "Supports Narco-Trafficking" in Venezuela  8/7/2005 NarcoNews: "The DEA was using the fight against narco-trafficking as a mask to, among other things, support narco-trafficking, in order to conduct intelligence operations against the government."

Operation Milagro is extended to people in the United States  8/1/2005 Granma: "President Hugo Chávez reiterated yesterday, Sunday, that this year, some 100,000 patients from Latin American are to undergo eye surgery in Cuba. On the 230th edition of his weekly Sunday program, "Aló Presidente," the leader noted that Operation Milagro (Miracle) also covers poor patients from the Caribbean free of charge, and has even been extended to the United States, where, he said, there is an increasing number of poor people, given that the Bush government is cutting access to Social Security."

No se lo pierdan: "El Papa Benedicto XVI está preocupado por Chávez, dictador paranoico"  7/31/2005 Aporrea: "Hoy se repite la historia. “Estamos gobernados por un déspota paranoico”, dijo a EL TIEMPO el cardenal Castillo, en su primera réplica al ataque que le hizo recientemente el presidente Chávez . “Bandido y alcahueta”, le gritó el Presidente a Castillo, único purpurado de Venezuela. “Chávez es un castrista que se cree Bolívar”, le replica en este reportaje. El enfrentamiento no es un simple intercambio de agresiones verbales entre Presidente y Cardenal. Es el reflejo de un virtual rompimiento que se protocoliza en Venezuela entre la Iglesia y el Gobierno. En su última intervención por radio, en Aló, Presidente, el jefe de Estado dijo que el Cardenal era un “fariseo” y un “inmoral”. El cardenal, por primera vez, le responde y declara su alarma por lo que ocurre en Venezuela y asegura que no es personal sino que la comparte la Conferencia Episcopal Venezolana y llena de preocupación al papa Benedicto XVI. “El presidente Chávez es un dictador que no quiere a Colombia, que apoya la guerrilla y que quiere un estado comunista”, dice. Asegura que más que una bendición, el presidente Chávez “necesita un exorcismo”."

Venezuelans march for fair polls  7/31/2005 BBC 

MACK VS. VENEZUELA  7/29/2005 Thomas Paine's Corner: "As some Latin American analysts complain that Washington has declared "electronic war" on Venezuela with a plan to target the country for special radio and television broadcasts, it remains uncertain whether the project will ever get off the ground."

Venezuela plans for oil income  7/27/2005 Financial Times: "Santander Investment, the Spanish bank, said in a report on Wednesday that Venezuela's fiscal policy did not show “any sign” of accountability. “This is likely to be reinforced by the change of the BCV law that will allow the government to accumulate approximately $17bn [between 2005 and 2006] to finance social programmes and public investments.” Much of that looks likely to be spent abroad, adding clout to Mr Chávez's foreign policy goal of extending his “socialist” economic model across Latin America. On Tuesday Mr Chávez suggested that the first tranche of the fund was already earmarked for Southern Cone countries. “The law authorises us to use [the money] only abroad. We want to use it, and invest part of the $6bn in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay.” Last week Venezuela said it would buy as much as $500m in Ecuadorean sovereign bonds. Earlier this year, Venezuela bought $300m of Argentine debt and it is considering another $200m. One analyst said the parallel budget was designed to win wider political backing for Mr Chávez's critical stance against the US."

'Chavez TV' beams into South America  7/26/2005 Guardian: "Although Telesur is backed by the governments of Argentina, Cuba, Uruguay and Brazil, the driving force has been President Chavez, whose government has contributed 70% of Telesur's $10m (£5.7m) financing and owns 51% of the channel. Real power inside Telesur will rest on a seven-strong board of directors led by Venezuela's communications minister, Andres Izarra - "the Turner of Telesur" as he is dubbed, in reference to Ted Turner, founder of CNN."

Venezuela's Chavez lashes back at cardinal  7/19/2005 CNN: "The statements made by Chavez in Lima, Peru, where he was attending an Andean summit meeting, were released by his press office in Caracas on Monday. A day earlier, Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara said Chavez's administration "has seized control of all the branches of government" in Venezuela. The cardinal warned that "true democracy" does not exist in Venezuela, and said the president is steering the world's fifth largest oil exporter toward a Cuba-style dictatorship. "The only solution is democratic, which must involve the resistance of all the people," Castillo Lara said. The church has been one of the loudest critics of Chavez, a former paratroop commander and self-styled revolutionary. Chavez, in turn, has described the church leadership as a "tumor." Castillo Lara's comments came after Chavez on his weekly radio program accused the cardinal of siding with Venezuela's "coup-plotting" opposition while neglecting the poor. Chavez, a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro who frequently tells his supporters that Jesus Christ was a socialist and anti-imperialist, called Castillo Lara "a bandit" who "has the devil inside him." Eduardo Fernandez, president of the Social Christian Party, criticized Chavez for "using vulgar and offensive language" in referring to "a respectable man who is adored by the Venezuelan people." After months of keeping a low profile, the country's highest body of Catholic leaders, the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, has recently renewed its criticism of Chavez and his left-leaning government."

President Chavez denounces Venezuelan cardinal as coup-mongering "bandit"  7/19/2005 Vheadlines 

Chavez Stokes Confrontation Over U.S. Role in Venezuela  7/19/2005 Washington Post: ""When the president talks, it is not a joke," said Mary Pili Hernandez, a senior Foreign Ministry official. "The only country Venezuela has bad relations with is the United States; with all other countries we have good or very good relations. But with just one word, the U.S. could resolve all of the problems. That word is 'respect.' " Chavez asserts that the 21st-century equivalent of the Cold War is the developed world's thirst for oil -- and its attempts to manipulate weaker governments to secure it. Oil-rich Venezuela sells 60 to 65 percent of its crude oil to the United States, making it the fourth-largest oil supplier to the U.S. market. This year, near-record-high oil prices have helped Chavez finance a variety of social programs that he vows will make the country more independent of U.S. influence. Observers say the oil revenue also has emboldened Chavez's foreign policy strategy. He has recently inked oil agreements with Argentina, Brazil and his Caribbean neighbors, and has launched efforts to strengthen ties with China through oil accords."

Vice-President Responds to Otto Reich, Denies Venezuela is “Cubanizing”  7/13/2005 Venezuela Analysis: "Holding up statistics that showed that in the first semester of 2005 Venezuelan authorities seized double of the amount of drugs that were confiscated during the corresponding time period in 2004, Rangel toyed with, and then dismissed, the idea that the US ambassador to Venezuela did not have access to this information. “This [lack of information] is not the custom among these ambassadors,” he affirmed, adding that “generally U.S. ambassadors have good information in the countries in which they are present.” The Venezuelan Vice President went on to add that these statistics “reveal that there is efficient work on the part of Venezuelan authorities and that, in second place, I must say that due to agreements with the U.S. there are twelve offices of the DEA operating in the national territory, the majority in Caracas.” Rangel then alleged that Brownfield’s statements prove that he is taking an active role in the U.S. orchestrated “campaign” intended to “strike Venezuela in the fight against drug trafficking.” "