Intelligence sources warn Venezuela's Chavez: Beware the Ides of January!
Roy S. Carson | 13.01.2006 17:01 | Social Struggles | London | World
Just months ago, we were given first hints of covert United States actions to deal decisively with Chavez but it had, optimistically, been thought that Pentagon planners and their Beltway mandarins would take time out over Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hanukkah to consider the implications and consequences of any move to 'take out' President Chavez Frias and remove the hallucinations from the bottom of George W. Bush's emptied bottle of booze.
The aftermath of the December 4 parliamentary elections across Venezuela, however, has proved to be too much for Condoleezza Rice's henchmen to stomach after fondly believing that mass withdrawals by the opposition would send the Chavez government into a downward spiral of self-destruction ... very much to Ms. Rice's chagrin, the direct opposite was achieved as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED)'s oxymoronic financing of Venezuela's disparate opposition factions sent them into freefall with only the Christmas season to cushion their obvious collision with the reality they must now face in 2006.
US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other 'spook' operatives are already 'embedded' in Venezuela and set to cause maximum confusion and disruption once the green light is given from above. What, however, is unknown is to what extent the Chavez government is already cautioned and prepared for what appears most likely as a fourth attempt to overthrow the democratic will of the Venezuelan people.
The major problem for the Venezuelan President and his ministerial team is that the United States has indeed succeeded in beguiling a series of officials within the Chavez administration, lured with promises of lucrative sinecures Stateside or managerial/executive positions within a post-Chavez administration which would seek to negate most, if not all, of the current administration's social/welfare achievements of recent years.
Indications are that a sizeable 'posse' of administration traitors have been indirectly positioned and prepared by the United States to step in immediately once the President has been removed and replaced by a more Washington-friendly face.
Leading among contenders for the United States' post-Chavez contingency planning are billionaire Gustavo Cisneros with former Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) president Luis Giusti as his direct interlocutor with the White House.
A 'released-from-prison' Carlos Ortega would take over as Labor Minister while exiled Fedecamaras president Carlos Fernandez would take the trade portfolio along with that of Economic Planning (Cordiplan).
Radio Caracas TV (RCTV) director Marcel Granier would take over as Minister of Communications & Information in a revamped Central Office of Information (OCI) while Sumate's Maria Corina Machado would be expected to return as titular head of the Foreign Ministry in Caracas to directly liaise with Condoleezza Rice in an eventual post-Chavez administration.
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Roy S. Carson