CIA documents are proof: US behind coup in Venezuela

VHeadline.com Venezuela - TOP STORY AT THIS HOUR!

The proof is in the documents: The CIA was involved in the April 12 coup d'etat against President Hugo Chavez Frias

[FPF: Seldom seen text and video about how 'they' do it, a very interesting exposé by an insider - Url.: http://tinyurl.com/6mgkf Do watch it or read the transcript: it's worth every minute of your time and makes you still better understand why they wreck the globe and kill so many.]

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Friday, June 17, 2005 - Venezuelan-American attorney Eva Golinger writes:
On April 12, 2002, White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer stated: "Let me share with you the administration's thoughts about what's taking place in Venezuela. It remains a somewhat fluid situation. But yesterday's events in Venezuela resulted in a change in the government and the assumption of a transitional authority until new elections can be held.

The details still are unclear. We know that the action encouraged by the Chavez government provoked this crisis. According to the best information available, the Chavez government suppressed peaceful demonstrations. Government supporters, on orders from the Chavez government, fired on unarmed, peaceful protestors, resulting in 10 killed and 100 wounded. The Venezuelan military and the police refused to fire on the peaceful demonstrators and refused to support the government's role in such human rights violations. The government also tried to prevent independent news media from reporting on these events.

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 government has promised early elections.

The United States will continue to monitor events. That is what took place, and the Venezuelan people expressed their right to peaceful protest. It was a very large protest that turned out. And the protest was met with violence."

ON THAT SAME DAY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE SPOKESPERSON PHILIP T. REEKER, CLAIMED:

"In recent days, we expressed our hopes that all parties in Venezuela, but especially the Chavez administration, would act with restraint and show full respect for the peaceful expression of political opinion. We are saddened at the loss of life.

We wish to express our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and look forward to working with all democratic forces in Venezuela to ensure the full exercise of democratic rights. The Venezuelan military commendably refused to fire on peaceful demonstrators, and the media valiantly kept the Venezuelan public informed.

Yesterday's events in Venezuela resulted in a transitional government until new elections can be held. Though details are still unclear, undemocratic actions committed or encouraged by the Chavez administration provoked yesterday's crisis in Venezuela.

According to the best information available, at this time: Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans gathered peacefully to seek redress of their grievances. The Chavez Government attempted to suppress peaceful demonstrations. Chavez supporters, on orders, fired on unarmed, peaceful protestors, resulting in more than 100 wounded or killed. Venezuelan military and police refused orders to fire on peaceful demonstrators and refused to support the government's role in such human rights violations.

The government prevented five independent television stations from reporting on events. The results of these provocations are: Chavez resigned the presidency. Before resigning, he dismissed the Vice President and the Cabinet. A transition civilian government has promised early elections.

We have every expectation that this situation will be resolved peacefully and democratically by the Venezuelan people in accord with the principles of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. The essential elements of democracy, which have been weakened in recent months, must be restored fully.

We will be consulting with our hemispheric partners, within the framework of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, to assist Venezuela."

WHY DO I RECITE THESE STATEMENTS HERE?

These statements from the highest levels of the US government show the prepared version of the events that took place during the April 11-12 coup d'etat against Venezuelan President Chavez. Moreover, these revealing statements now prove, in light of documents recently obtained from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), that this prepared version of events was knowingly false and made with the intention of deceiving the international community in order to justify a violent overthrow of a democratic government.

The White House and the State Department both claimed that the Chavez government had provoked violence and actions that resulted in the President's alleged resignation. They also asserted that the Chavez government had fired on unarmed, peaceful protesters and that the Venezuelan military and police had refused orders to "support the government's role in human rights violations." The US government referred to the protests and actions of that day as though they were spontaneous, unplanned events.

THE US GOVERNMENT HAS ALSO CONTINUED TO DENY TO THIS DAY ANY INVOLVEMENT WHATSOEVER IN THE APRIL 2002 COUP D'ETAT.

However, there is a vast amount of evidence that has surfaced since the coup demonstrating that the events on April 11, 2002 were entirely premeditated by a sector of the opposition intent on overthrowing the Chavez government.

Furthermore, my own investigations have provided a plethora of evidence proving the US involvement in the coup on various levels.

Most revealing on the Venezuelan front was a news program on Saturday morning, April 12, 2002, "24 Horas" with host Napoleon Bravo. On that program, Bravo interviewed Vice-Admiral Carlos Molina Tamayo, a professed coup leader, and Victor Manuel Garcia, Director of the polling company CIFRA who claimed to have represented the "civil society" during the coup. Both Molina Tamayo and Garcia gave a jaw-dropping, detailed account of the events leading up to the coup and those key Venezuelans involved, including crediting the private televisions stations for their complicity and aide.

Their testimony, along with Chacao municipal mayor Leopoldo Lopez of the Primero Justicia political party and Napoleon Bravo's own admissions of complicity in the coup, provided plenty of proof that the overthrow of Chavez was a premeditated event.

Later, an extraordinary and award-winning documentary by filmmaker Angel Palacios, "Puente Llaguno: Claves de un Massacre," revealed how the Venezuelan private media had manipulated and distorted the events that unfolded on April 11, 2002 in the opposition march, which resulted in widespread violence and death. The documentary also provided sufficient proof that snipers unrelated to the Chavez government had provoked the violence in the opposition march that justified the forced removal of Chavez from office.

Furthermore, the documentary succeeded in proving that a well-planned military-civilian coup d'etat had taken place that day and that those involved were connected to the highest levels of the US government.

But the evidence of actual US involvement in the coup itself remained scarce up until recently ... on www.venezuelafoia.info , I have posted hundreds of documents that evidence the intricate financing scheme the US government has been carrying out in Venezuela since 2001, that includes financing well over twenty million dollars to opposition sectors.

The funding of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a quasi-governmental entity in the US financed entirely by Congress and established by congressional legislation in 1983, has provided more than three million dollars since late 2001 to opposition groups, many of which were key participants in the April 2002 coup.

And in June 2002, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), set up an Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) in the US Embassy in Caracas, allegedly for the purposing of helping Venezuela to resolve its political crisis. The OTI in Caracas has counted on more than fifteen million dollars in funding from Congress since June 2002 and has recently requested five million more for 2005, despite the fact that it was only supposed to be a two-year endeavor.

All evidence obtained to date shows that the OTI has primarily funded opposition groups and projects in Venezuela, particularly those that were focused on the August 15, 2004 recall referendum against President Chavez.

I have written other articles explaining the intervention model applied through NED and USAID in Venezuela. This method of intervention is very sophisticated and complex, as it penetrates civil society and social organizations in a very subtle way and is often either undetectable or flimsily justified by the concept of "promoting democracy," which is what the NED claims to do around the world, despite evidence to the contrary.

The mere fact in Venezuela that the NED has financed exclusively anti-Chavez groups and those very same organizations that were involved in the April 2002 coup shows that "democracy" is far from the NED's intention.

But the CIA intervention in Venezuela is of the crudest, simplest kind. Top secret documents recently obtained and posted on www.venezuelafoia.info show that in the weeks prior to the April 2002 coup against President Chavez, the CIA had full knowledge of the events to occur and, in fact, even had the detailed plans in their possession.

An April 6, 2002 top secret intelligence brief headlining "Venezuela: Conditions Ripening for Coup Attempt," states "Dissident military factions, including some disgruntled senior officers and a group of radical junior officers, are stepping up efforts to organize a coup against President Chavez, possible as early as this month, [CENSORED]. The level of detail in the reported plans -- [CENSORED] targets Chavez and 10 other senior officers for arrest."

The document further states, "To provoke military action, the plotters may try to exploit unrest stemming from opposition demonstrations slated for later this month"

So the CIA knew that a coup attempt would take place soon after April 6, 2002, and moreover, they knew the plan would include Chavez's arrest and an exploitation of violence in the opposition march. In other words, they knew the plans before the coup occurred and surely they knew the actors involved, many of whose names are probably in the censored parts of the top-secret documents. One could assume that if the CIA had the detailed plans in their possession in the weeks prior to the coup it was because they were associating and conspiring with the coup plotters.

So, when Ari Fleischer and Philip Reeker made those statements on April 12, 2002 on behalf of the US government, they did so with full knowledge that a coup had taken place, Chavez had been arrested and the violence in the opposition march, which they attributed to Chavez, had actually been a premeditated part of the coup plot.

The top secret documents that prove this information show they were sent to the US Statement Department and the National Security Agency ... which means frankly, the White House knew what was happening all along.

Furthermore, the CIA documents make no mention of any attempts to have Chavez forcibly resign from office. The CIA warnings indicated as early as March 5, 2002 (which is the date of the earliest document provided) that a coup was on the rise and even hinted that prospects for a successful coup were limited. The CIA rightfully felt the opposition was too disperse and divided to successfully overthrow Chavez. But the concept that Chavez had "resigned" as the White House and US State Department "confirmed" on April 12, 2002 was merely a set-up, a false claim made with the intention of deceiving the US public and the international community.

Remember that the US stood practically alone in the world in its endorsement of the coup-implemented Carmona government, which it later weakly condemned but only after the coup came tumbling down and the US realized it needed to save face quickly.

A top secret CIA document from April 14, 2002 shows concern that Latin American governments will view US foreign policy as "hypocritical" because of its sole endorsement of the Carmona coup government.

The CIA also seems surprised that the region of Latin America so quickly rejected the coup in Venezuela and that the Carmona government "stunningly collapsed," which demonstrates a possible out-of-date view of the hemisphere and a failure in intelligence gathering and analysis. In fact, the CIA never imagined the coup would buckle because of support for Chavez -- their analysis all along showed possible failure due to lack of opposition unity and hasty actions. This is a very important point, because it demonstrates that although the CIA was involved in the coup plotting and the collaborations with dissident military factions and opposition leaders, it was fairly detached from the reality of Venezuelan society.

The CIA's intelligence failures in Venezuela were apparently repeated during the oil industry strike later in 2002 and the guarimba destabilization attempt, an old-school CIA tactic applied in Chile and Nicaragua. Both of these harsh actions injured the Venezuelan economy and affected the government's international image, but failed in their goal to oust President Chavez.

The NED's and USAID's tens of millions of dollars in financing to build and maintain the opposition movement and finance the recall referendum campaign against President Chavez also failed to achieve their mission. In fact, all of these bungled attempts by the U.S. government and its marionette opposition movement have served to strengthen Chavez's support within Venezuela and paint him as a strong and solid international leader.

Now that some of the top-secret documents have surfaced that show the CIA's complicity and involvement in the April 2002 coup, it leaves one to wonder what is next on the agenda.

In September 2001, shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, President Bush unconditionally authorized former CIA Director George Tenet's "Worldwide Attack Matrix," which targets leaders and prominent figures in 80 countries around the world for assassination. The authorization of the Worldwide Attack Matrix provided the CIA with a virtual carte blanche to conduct political assassinations abroad, justified under the "war against terrorism".

The "Attack Matrix," a top secret CIA document, authorizes an array of covert CIA anti-terror actions that range from "routine propaganda to lethal covert action in preparation for military attacks".

The plans give the CIA the broadest and most lethal authority in history. Some analysts have indicated that Venezuela is possibly included in the plans.

The recent assassination of Venezuelan Prosecutor Danilo Anderson, conducted in a style reminiscent of CIA operations, could be setting the stage for future political murders.

History shows that when the CIA fails to remove a target via non-lethal means, more desperate measures are taken.

Despite the fact that the Venezuelan government and its supporters appear to have foiled the CIA numerous times already over the past few years, vigilance, intelligence and increased security measures should become a priority.
[enditem] - Url.: http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=37984

Eva Golinger is a Venezuelan-American attorney specializing in human rights, international and immigration law. She is the author of The Chavez Code: Cracking US Intervention in Venezuela, available through her website, www.venezuelafoia.info and on Amazon.com.

The FBI and CIA documents regarding Luis Posada Carriles mentioned in the article can be viewed at the National Security Archives webpage.

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Editor : Henk Ruyssenaars
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FPF-COPYRIGHT NOTICE - In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107 - any copyrighted work in this message is distributed by the Foreign Press Foundation under fair use, without profit or payment, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the information. Url.: http://liimirror.warwick.ac.uk/uscode/17/107.html

Don't Tread on Our Sons and Daughters!

Here's one of those hopeful stories that warms the heart...

Franklin’s Digest

One of the most formidable forces in almost any society is that of grief stricken mothers when they band together to fight against destructive forces in society. When the number of children killed by drunk drivers reached a certain point in America, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers was born.

It became the first and only dynamic force pushing for the passing of much stronger laws against drunk driving. They became a force to contend with, and pols all over America got the message. Nobody, but nobody, was going to stand in the way of these mothers as they pressed for new legislation and stricter law enforcement.

In Argentina, when enough sons and daughters disappeared, hundreds of grieving mothers banded together in banned public demonstrations. The normally brutal and lethal riot troops of Argentina's fascist government were suddenly rendered impotent. They could do nothing to disband an aggressive mass of bereaved mothers when they filled the streets.

Mothers command enormous, almost religious, respect in Hispanic culture. The troops and politicos were stunned by what they were facing. There was nothing in their experience to guide them. These women became a beacon of courage for others. Men also began to pour into the streets, inspired by the mothers and ready to place their lives in harm's way. The nation's brutal riot troops and amoral politicians were intimidated for the first time as massive demonstrations led by singing, chanting women marched through the plazas and streets. It was the beginning of the end of one of the world’s most brutal and repressive regimes.

As more and more American mothers have realized they've lost their sons in Iraq in a war built on lies and deceptions, they've banded together under the banner 'Gold Star Families for Peace', guided by the determined leadership of one Cindy Sheehan.

THESE GOLD STAR MOTHERS HAVE SWORN TO TAKE THE LEAD IN A RELENTLESS DRIVE TO IMPEACH GEORGE BUSH.

When Ralph Nader launched his lonely drive to impeach Bush, he was an isolated figure, condemned by both liberals and conservatives, remarkably vilified most strongly by his fellow liberals (e.g. Progressive Magazine). Well, he now has one hell of an ally in this group of determined mothers. Like the American mothers who went after drunk drivers and the Argentine mothers who targeted those who had ‘disappeared’ their sons, these mothers of sacrificed sons have the potential to grow into a potent force. Consider that the numbers can only increase as the war creates new grieving mothers each day and more evidence of Bush's duplicity steadily trickles out. The cabal is incapable of admitting the war has been a huge mistake, so it will go on and on creating new Gold Star mothers.

A mother's pain over a lost son never ends. As you know, I believe this is one of the strongest reasons for ending capital punishment. The cruelty inflicted on the mothers of those sons the state has chosen to kill is unimaginable and never ending. The mothers of those men and women who have been needlessly killed in a fraudulent war will also mourn their dead sons until only their own deaths end the pain. Now that these grieving mothers are getting organized, you can be sure they'll never stop pursuing George Bush. My heart is with them in their mission.

ANYBODY LOOKING FOR A WORTHY CAUSE THAT IS PROBABLY HERE TO STAY THE COURSE NEED LOOK NO FURTHER THAN THIS GROUP.

Today's selection consists of plain but lucid words by the bereaved mother who has founded Gold Star Families for Peace. I suspect the dictator occupying the Oval Office may have triggered the birth of a hornet's nest when he provoked the unrelenting anger of Cindy Sheehan, an anger that will not be quieted until George Bush is punished for what he has done. She has said her goal in life is to 'drive a stake through the heart of George Bush', and those words are only barely figurative.

Just how do you suppose Bush and Karl Rove will go about dealing with these enraged mothers? Will the Secret Service arrest them when they appear at Bush rallies? Will the FBI use the Patriot Act to harass them? I tend to doubt it. These women are a different sort of problem for the usually heavy handed Rove et al.

As you read Cindy Sheehan's words, you'll see that she's articulate, concise, and clear. She and her newly formed activist group just might turn out to be the most effective enemy Bush has thus far created with his psychotic wars. While Kerry and his ilk hide out in their offices on the Hill, these women will be out in the streets pursuing Bush, being interviewed, writing letters to the editor, and so on.

CNN and other media will find it hard to ignore them. They'll make for appealing guests, and we'll likely see their faces on prime time television. What will Bill O'Reilly have to say about these women? Will he curse them? Call them unpatriotic? Scream that they're disloyal to our noble president? Will he go so far as to call these women traitors? He just might. He always has the potential to become a runaway cannon.

This could get interesting.

I say three cheers for Cindy Sheehan and Gold Star Families for Peace. If a group of them ever plans a demonstration in your city, bug hell out of your local media to cover the gathering.

Warmest regards,

RICHARD

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GOLD STAR FAMILIES FOR PEACE HTTP://WWW.GSFP.ORG/

A LIE OF HISTORIC PROPORTIONS

Iraq has been the tragic Lie of Historic Proportions of Washington, DC since before the first gulf war. For years, Saddam was one of our government’s propped up and militarily supported puppets. Many people have seen the famous footage of Donald Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam. I suppose the two are smiling so big for the cameras because they are kindred spirits. After all of the hand-shaking and weapon brokering, when did Saddam become such a bad guy to Bush, Cheney, Halliburton and Co.? (Insert your favorite reason here).

During the Clinton regime the US-UN led sanctions against Iraq and the weekly bombing raids killed tens of thousands of innocent people in Iraq. Many of them were children, but since one of her children didn’t have to be sacrificed to the homicidal war machine, Madeline Albright, thinks the slaughter during the “halcyon” Clinton years was “worth it.” More lies.

Anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of current events understands that this invasion/occupation of Iraq was not about Saddam being a “bad guy.” If that logic is used, then how many innocent Iraqi people have to die before the citizens of America wake up and know that our government is a “bad guy?” We also know that Iraq was not about WMD’s. They weren’t there and they weren’t going to be there for at least a decade, by all reports. Another reason, so wispy and more difficult to disprove, is that America invaded Iraq to bring freedom and democracy to the Iraqi people. When one tries to dispute this particular deception, one is accused of being unpatriotic or hating freedom.

Even though correct, the statement “Freedom isn’t Free” is very insulting to me. False freedom is very expensive. Fake freedom costs over one billion of our tax dollars a week; phony freedom has cost the Iraqi people tens of thousands of innocent lives; fanciful freedom has meant the destruction of a country and its infrastructure. Tragically, this fabricated notion of freedom and democracy cost me far more than I was willing to pay: the life of my son, Casey. The Lie of Historic Proportions also cost me my peace of mind, I do not feel free and I do not feel like I live in a democracy.

One of the other great deceits that is being perpetuated on the American public and the world is that this occupation is to fight terrorism: If we don’t fight terrorism in Iraq then we will have to fight it “on our streets.” In fact, terrorist attacks have skyrocketed in Iraq and all over the world. So much so, that the State Department has stopped compiling the statistics and quit issuing the yearly terrorism report. I guess if one doesn’t write a report, then terrorism doesn’t exist? All of Casey’s commendations say that he was killed in the “GWOT” the Global War on Terrorism. I agree with most of GWOT, except that Casey was killed in the Global War Of Terrorism waged on the world and its own citizens by the biggest terrorist outfit in the world: George and his destructive Neo-con cabal.

The evidence is overwhelming, compelling, and alarming that George and his indecent bandits traitorously had intelligence fabricated to fit their goal of invading Iraq. The criminals foisted a Lie of Historic Proportions on the world. It was clear to many of us more aware people that George, Condi, Rummy, the two Dicks: Cheney and Perle, Wolfie, and most effectively and treacherously, Colin Powell, lied their brains out before the invasion. The world was even shown where the WMD’S were on the map. We were told that the “smoking gun” could come at any time in the form of a “mushroom cloud” or a cloud of toxic biological or chemical weapons. Does anyone remember duct tape and plastic sheeting?

Finally, the side of peace, truth and justice has our own smoking gun and it is burning our hands. It is the so-called Downing Street Memo dated 23, July 2002, (almost 8 months before the invasion) that states that military action (against Iraq) is now seen as “inevitable.” The memo further states that: “Bush wanted to remove Saddam through military action”, justified by the conjunction of “terrorism and WMD’s.” The most damning thing to George in the memo is where the British intelligence officer who wrote the memo claims that the intelligence to base Great Britain and the US staging a devastating invasion on Iraq was being “fixed around the policy.” Now, after over three years of relentless propaganda, it is difficult to distinguish the proven lies from the new “truth:” that this occupation is bringing freedom and democracy to the people of Iraq.

Casey took an oath to protect the US from all enemies “foreign and domestic.” He was sent to occupy and die in a foreign country that was no threat to the USA. However, the biggest threat to our safety, humanity, and our way of life in America are George and his cronies. Congress made a Mistake of Historic Proportions and waived its Constitutional responsibility to declare war. It is time for the House to make up for that mistake and introduce Articles of Impeachment against the murderous thugs who have caused so much mindless mayhem. It is time for Congress to re-validate itself by holding a hearing about the Downing Street Memo. The reader can help by going onto www.AfterDowningStreet.org and signing a petition to Rep. John Conyers so he will know that the American people are behind him to convene an investigation in the House Judiciary Committee. You can also write your Congressional Representative to help push the inquiry.

It is time to put partisan politics behind us to do what is correct for once and reclaim America’s humanity. It is time for Congress and the American people to work together in peace and justice to rid our country of the stench of greed, hypocrisy, and unnecessary suffering that permeates our White House and our halls of Congress. It is time to hold someone accountable for the carnage and devastation that has been caused. As a matter of fact, it is past time, but it is not too late.

Cindy Sheehan

Mother of needlessly slain soldier, Casey Sheehan. Cofounder of Gold Star Families for Peace http://www.gsfp.org/ (Organizational Supporters of www.AfterDowningStreet.org">) Scindy121@aol.com 707-365-7750

Fwd. in agreement by:

FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION
http://tinyurl.com/3tro9
Editor : Henk Ruyssenaars
http://tinyurl.com/66dmo
The Netherlands
FPF@Chello.nl

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