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U.S. threats to Venezuela's revolution escalate
(W. T. Whitney Jr., People's Weekly World, 02-07-06)
Aggressive maneuvers against Venezuela from the Bush government have reached new heights. Here are some indicators. . . . On Jan. 27, the Venezuelan government expelled naval attache John Correa, stationed at the U.S. Embassy. Security personnel had infiltrated the group of Venezuelan junior officers recruited by Correa. The Bush government retaliated by sending a Venezuelan diplomat back to Caracas. . . . Another item: the Bush administration is blocking Spain's $1.7 billion sale of military aircraft and boats to Venezuela. It claims that U.S. technology was used in the planes' manufacture. According to Chavez, Venezuela may end up buying planes from China or Russia. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has berated Venezuela for spending on military hardware rather than provide for people's needs. [COMMENT by Lorenzo: Of course, the hypocritical U.S. has again significantly increased its military budget for 2006 while making deep cuts in social programs.] . . . Rumsfeld on Feb. 2 compared Hugo Chavez to Hitler, declaring, We've got Chavez in Venezuela. He's a person who was elected legally, just as Adolf Hitler was elected legally. ... He is working closely with Fidel Castro and Mr. Morales and others. It concerns me. . . . Intelligence director John Negroponte is worried too. In recent Senate testimony, he warned that if Chavez wins re-election this year, he will "use his control of the legislature and other institutions to continue to stifle the opposition, reduce press freedom, and entrench himself through measures that are technically legal, but which nonetheless constrict democracy." . . . Lawyer Eva Golinger, writing in venezuelanalysis.com, sees "a scary escalation of aggression ... Rumsfeld and Negroponte represent the two entities in the United States that wage war: Defense and Intelligence." . . . She reports that the U.S. government will be sending $9 million this year to opposition groups in Venezuela. She refers to an October 2005 U.S. Army publication, "Doctrine for Asymmetric War Against Venezuela," in which Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution were labeled as the largest threat since the Soviet Union and communism. . . . The Bush administration has found one overseas ally. Former Spanish president and right-winger Jose Mara Aznar now heads up the Foundation for Social Studies and analysis. That well-financed group recently announced that it is concentrating this year on "a region caught up in populism and indigenous stirrings in the dark shadow of an alliance between Fidel Castro and the Venezuelan Hugo Chavez, "something it called an 'explosive situation'." That would be Latin America.

posted by Lorenzo 9:05 AM