Hugo Chavez be Illing

[paulk]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4040935.stm

After six weeks of debate and a marathon final two day session, the government majority in Venezuela's parliament finally got what it wanted: a new law that it says will encourage higher standards in broadcasting, protect children from inappropriate sex and violence and democratise access to the airways.

[Ali]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4040935.stm

After six weeks of debate and a marathon final two day session, the government majority in Venezuela's parliament finally got what it wanted: a new law that it says will encourage higher standards in broadcasting, protect children from inappropriate sex and violence and democratise access to the airways. Regime Change! (again)

[infidel]

CIA and Venezuela
CIA Documents Cast New Light on Washington's Role in Venezuela

WASHINGTON, December 8. When it comes to Venezuela's rocky diplomatic relations with the United States, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is usually given the blame. His frequent denunciations of U.S. "intervention" in Venezuela are taken as indications that he is hostile to America.

But the evidence is mounting that Washington is the party responsible for friction with our third largest oil supplier. Last week the New York Times reported on recently released CIA documents showing that our government had advance knowledge of the military coup that briefly overthrew Venezuela's democratic government on April 11-13 of 2002. The Bush Administration not only failed to warn Venezuela of the coup, but actually pretended that it wasn't a coup at all.

"They lied about not knowing about coup threats before April 11th, and when they claimed that the coup was a popular uprising when they knew that it was actually being planned for weeks," said U.S. Congressman Jose Serrano of New York City today.

The documents (available at http://www.venezuelafoia.info/CIA/CIA-index.htm), show clearly that the White House knew that there were detailed plans for a coup in April, that these plans included arresting the President, and that "to provoke military action, the plotters might try to exploit unrest stemming from opposition demonstrations." That is exactly what happened on April 11.

Yet on April 12, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer gave the coup leaders' version of events -- that violence at the demonstrations had led to Chavez' "resignation," and that the government was responsible for the violence. "The results of these events are now that President Chavez has resigned the presidency. Before resigning, he dismissed the vice president and the cabinet, and a transitional civilian government has been installed."

This false version of events allowed the Bush Administration to support the coup government, which proceeded to abolish Venezuela's constitution, General Assembly, and Supreme Court. The Administration reversed its support for the coup government the next day, after being diplomatically isolated.

This deception indicates that the Bush Administration's support for the overthrow of Venezuelan democracy went well beyond what has been previously reported.

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=45&ItemID=6849

[Ali]

GOP fucking with South American countries! So, what else is new?