VTV: Leopoldo López has been a CIA agent for 20 years

The Venezuelan public TV channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) has produced a video claiming that imprisoned opposition leader Leopoldo López “has a lot to do with the CIA and the intentions of the government of Barack Obama of militarily invading Venezuela.”

The main evidence for this claim is that in the decade of the 90’s López studied in an “institution linked to the CIA.” The institution is the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University, where López received a Master in Public Policy (the university degree is shown in the video together with pictures of López during his student years.) According to the video the school is “known for recruiting officers for the Central Intelligence Agency.”

The video ends with this note dubbed over images of López and Maria Corina Machado: “the CIA strategy to twist the arm of governments that are uncomfortable to its interests remains the same: to recruit men and women without a fatherland [apátridas] willing to sell their country for money and power.”

More details of the Total Collapse plan

In a news conference yesterday (September 9), President Maduro gave further details of the plan “Total Collapse” against the Bolivarian Revolution he claims was designed by Washington.

Maduro said he has evidence of a special meeting in July in the White House attended by representatives of the CIA, the Department of State, and the Pentagon, to “evaluate the situation in Venezuela.”

According to Maduro this is what was said at that meeting:

“the regime is consolidating, we were not able to delegitimize the revolutionary government that emerged from the victory of April 14, [the regime] has begun to occupy spaces and to develop its project with a good level of participation from the people, the Government on the Streets [Gobierno de la Calle] is dangerous because it could help to consolidate the revolutionary government.”

Therefore Maduro urged his followers to be “on maximum alert over this Total Colapse plan. (…) We have to permanently denounce these plans that are made in Washington and Miami and that are later executed by a reemergent fascism incarnated in the leaders of the right that have taken over the Venezuelan opposition.”

As evidence of the plan Maduro claimed that the Amuy refinery explosion last year was an act of sabotage aimed at affecting the results of the October 2012 presidential elections: “The big coup was Amuay, because the political aggregate of the Embassy of the United States in Venezuela told several people that Chávez was going to win the elections, and that only an extraordinary event could change public opinion.”

(Since the White House meeting was in July this year, this must mean that the “Total Collapse” plan is retroactive.)

Atilio Borón: Chávez was inoculated with cancer by the CIA trough a microphone

Atilio Borón is a Marxist Argentinian political scientist who was recently awarded the eight edition of Venezuelan government sponsored Premio Libertador al Pensamiento Crítico for his work América Latina en la Geopolítica del Imperialismo.

On an interview on the state TV channel VTV (August 19), Borón assured that he has become increasingly convinced that Chávez was killed by the United States government. He argued that the CIA has been, since the 70s, developing the technology needed to inoculate cancer cells or to “generate heart attacks in its enemies.” He added that: “with the technological advances that there have been, I have no doubt that this people [the CIA] could have developed a vector to generate cancerogenic processes trough malign cells. (…) A trustworthy scientific source confessed to me that there are methods for activating radioactive processes of malign cells contained in a microphone, that could have been placed in front of the Head of State and that could have been activated by some sort of remote control to introduce the lethal microscopic particles.”

Borón warned that the method could be used again by the CIA against President Maduro or other Latin American Presidents, such as Evo Morales or Rafael Correa. He therefore urged the Venezuelan government to take precautionary measures “because they [the CIA] are capable of anything, I mean, they killed Lubumba, they killed Che, they killed Allende, they killed Torrijos, and I believe they killed Chávez.”  Therefore Venezuela should “work with the best scientists that are moving forth the field of biological sciences, so that they can develop antibody mechanisms to neutralize these weapons.”

According to Boron the CIA is also behind a destabilization process in Venezuela which includes hitting the economy with food shortages: “A systematic, synchronized and organized campaign of harassment against the population through the creation of scarcity.”

The complete interview is an interesting example of the argument that the CIA has been behind every single event of Latin America modern history, but the bit about magnicidio is at the end, from 43:42 on.

Maduro: dirty electoral campaign for municipal elections financed by the CIA

President Maduro warned yesterday (August 24) that the “Venezuelan right” has begun a dirty war campaign for the municipal elections of December 8.

He declared: “Let us be ready to face all the psychological wars, the dirty wars, let us prepare the consciousness of the people so that we can win.” He mentioned as an example of a “dirty war in order to generate chaos,” the recent news that young women were assaulted in Maracaibo and had their hair forcefully cut in order to be resold as hair extensions. According to Maduro, those claims are only rumors: “Who created that dirty war of young girls having their hair stolen? It was J.J. Rendón [opposition electoral campaign consultant], he was the one that created that rumor. One day he will face Venezuelan justice. He is part of a psychological campaign to affect our youth with the elections in view.” 

Maduro added that “There are proofs that some of these groups that are now part of the apátrida right have been trained in the United States and in some countries of Europe and that they are directly financed by the CIA.”

NGOs respond to accusations by Rodríguez Torres that Rocío San Miguel is a CIA agent

Human Rights NGO’s in Venezula have published a communiqué expressing concern over the recent declarations by Interior Minister Miguel Rodríguez Torres.

(From Provea’s web page)

Comunicado de las ONG´s de DDHH, ante las acusaciones del Ministro de Interior, Justicia y Paz Miguel Rodríguez Torres contra de la defensora de DDHH y Presidenta de la ONG Control Ciudadano Rocío San Miguel

Las organizaciones no gubernamentales de derechos humanos abajo firmantes, ante las acusaciones del Ministro de Interior, Justicia y Paz Miguel Rodríguez Torres en contra de la defensora de derechos humanos y Presidenta de la ONG Control Ciudadano Rocío San Miguel queremos expresar lo siguiente:

1.-Rechazamos de manera categórica lo dicho en entrevista concedida al canal del Estado por el Ministro de Interior, Justicia y Paz Miguel Rodríguez Torres donde se refirió a la abogada y presidenta de la ONG Control Ciudadano, Rocía San Miguel acusándola de ser operadora del servicio secreto estadounidense.

“Personas como Rocío San Miguel que en estos días la escuchaba yo hablando de derechos humanos y Fuerza Armada. De ella te puedo decir que es una operadora de la CIA en Venezuela, lo puedo comprobar”, aseguró.

Sostuvo que San Miguel realiza una “campaña psicológica” para restar mérito al plan de seguridad que implementa el gobierno.

2.- La Dra. Rocío San Miguel es una respetable defensora de derechos humanos venezolana que ha dedicado una buena parte de su vida a lograr que en nuestro país se respeten los derechos y la dignidad de los ciudadanos y ciudadanos aun en contra de amenazas y persecuciones por parte de funcionarios del Estado Venezolano.

3.- La defensora de derechos humanos Rocío San Miguel es beneficiaria desde el 18 de enero de 2012 de Medidas Cautelares de Protección otorgadas por la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos mediante la cual el Estado venezolano debe garantizar la integridad física, moral y sicológica de la Dra. San  Miguel cuestión con las cuales ante este tipo de acusaciones sin fundamento están muy distantes de ser cumplidas por los personeros del gobierno.

4.- Por estas razones solicitamos al Presidente de la Republica así como al Ministro de Interior, Justicia y Paz Miguel Rodríguez Torres que cesen los descalificativos y amenazas en contra de la defensora de derechos humanos Rocío San Miguel por el trabajo que realiza y de cumplimiento a las Medidas Cautelares de Protección otorgadas por la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos y que igualmente se respete su trabajo de defensa a los derechos humanos así como el de todos los defensores de derechos humanos del país cumpliendo de esta manera con convenios que han sido suscritos y ratificados por Venezuela en esta materia.

5.- Las organizaciones aquí firmantes se declaran veedoras del respeto a la vida e integridad física, moral y sicológica de la defensora de derechos humanos Rocío San Miguel y en el caso que sea necesario ejerceremos las acciones legales tanto nacionales como internacionales que diera lugar.

En Caracas a los veintidós (22) días del mes de julio del año dos mil trece (2013)

ORGANIZACIONES FIRMANTES:

·      ASOCIACIÓN CIVIL FUNDECI

·      ASOCIACIÓN CIVIL KAPE

·      CONSORCIO DESARROLLO Y JUSTICIA

·      DIVERSIDAD E IGUALDAD SEXUAL ANTE LA LEY (DIVERLEX)

·      ESPACIO PÚBLICO

·      FORO PENAL VENEZOLANO

·      FUNDACIÓN PARA EL DEBIDO PROCESO (FUNDEPRO)

·       IDELL

·      INSTITUTO PRENSA Y SOCIEDAD VENEZUELA (IPYS)

·      LIDERAZGO Y VISIÓN

·      MONITOREO CIUDADANO

·      NUEVA CONCIENCIA NACIONAL 

·      ONG JUSTICIA Y PROCESO VENEZUELA

·      OPERACION LIBERTAD

·      POR LA CONCIENCIA

·      TRANSPARENCIA VENEZUELA

·      UNA VENTANA A LA LIBERTAD

·      UN ESTADO DE DERECHO

·      UN MUNDO SIN MORDAZA

Rodríguez Torres: Rocío San Miguel is a CIA agent

Interior, Peace, and Justice Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres declared in a TV interview the following: “people like that Rocío San Miguel, who I was listening to the other day, talking about human rights and the Armed Forces. About her I can tell you that she is a CIA operator in Venezuela, and I can prove it.”

Rocío San Miguel is a lawyer and human rights activist, and often writes in local media about Armed Forces related issues. She has been critical of the government anti-crime Plan Patria Segura because of its use of military personnel in citizen’s security.

San Miguel directly responded to the accusations via twitter (@rociosanmiguel): “A message to @RodriguezT_MIJP regarding his accusation that I am a CIA operator: defenders of human rights know what to expect from characters like you.” 

Snowden is a media strategic military plot by the USA

As I commented yesterday, it’s just a matter of time before someone in aporrea.org claims that Snowden is still a US agent.

Today Oscar Heck presents  an interesting argument: since espionage by the NSA is not a secret, and most countries know all about it, it’s hard to understand why so many are making such a big deal of the Snowden case.

The answer?

“Snowden, and even the political-diplomatic reaction of the affected countries, is a show, it has to be,” thinks Heck

The purpose for this show would be “among other things, a military exercise, I mean, an exercise in war propaganda designed to measure the military capacity of media reaction by Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba, and any other country willing to give Snowden asylum, any country ‘enemy’ of the USA.”

It’s not exactly clear from the article how media reaction allows the US government to “measure” the military capability of those countries. But Heck adds another hypothesis: perhaps the “media strategic military show” serves a different purpose. He did a quick Google search and found out that the US is currently testing a new aircraft carrier for drones. The whole Snowden affair could be a cover operation for this military test.

Heck finishes his article with a quote from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War: “All wars are based on deception.”  

Snowden is a trap

The popular pro-government web page aporrea.org publishes today an article by Oswaldo Leal that argues that Snowden is really a trap for Venezuela’s government.

According to Leal, Snowden’s presence in Venezuela would be used by the US government as a casus belli for the invasion of the country. The invasion would be carried out from Colombia where “everything is ready, even the war planes bought by the oil industry people, the seven military bases, Uribe and his para-militaries, drug traffickers and their networks. Let´s not fool ourselves, whenever they like, they can take us off the map, they have everything…”  

The article does not clarify if Snowden is a willing part of the plot or only a CIA dupe.

Aporrea is not part of the official media system SiBCI, and its columnists are not government officials. However it is a good source for theories held by government supporters that go beyond the official line.

The theory that Snowden is really part of an elaborate plot by the CIA against Venezuela has appeared before in aporrea. I think it’s probable that someone in the page will soon argue that Snowden is still a CIA agent, and that the whole asylum deal is really a ruse form the CIA to plant an agent inside Venezuela.

April 2013. The Thimoty Tracy and Antonio Rivero Cases

(Shorter versions of this chronology were previously published in the blog Venezuelan Politics and Human Rights)

Thimoty Tracy

April 26, At a news conference Interior and Justices Minister Miguel Rodríguez Torres reveals that the government has detained a US citizen named Timothy Hallet Tracy that, according to the Minister, belongs to a US “intelligence organization” and that had been handing out money to “students and parties of the right with the aim of generating violence.” Rodriguez Torres specifies that the money was channeled to a plot called “April Connection” that the SEBIN (Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia) had been monitoring since October 2012, when “all the information we had pointed to a normal development of the elections, but that after the announcement of the results by the CNE there would be a non-recognition of those results by the candidate of the right and that violent street actions would be generated with the purpose of destabilizing and delegitimizing the government.” (Opposition leaders ridiculed Rodríguez Torres via twitter asking how could the SEBIN know there would be elections in October 2012 if Chávez died in March 2013). 

As proof of the plot Rodríguez Torres showed during his press conference excerpts from a video of an opposition rally. In the video a group of students joke with the camera asking for 5 million dollars for the rights of appearing in the movie Tracy is making, and “600 million Bs. to be deposited to me if you want me to activate the city of Merida.” Rodríguez Torres explained that these experts clearly showed that “what motivates these students is to burn the country down. What they are interested in is money.” The family of Tracy claims that he is an amateur documentary producer. The US State Department denies that he is an intelligence agent. 

Tracy was expelled form Venezuela on June 5. The Minister of Interior, Justice, and Peace, Miguel Rodríguez Torres wrote on twitter: “The gringo Timothy Hallet Tracy captured spying on our country, has been expelled from the national territory.”

General Antonio Rivero

April 27, Leopoldo López of the opposition party Voluntad Popular denounces via twitter that a leader of his party, the retired General Antonio Rivero has been illegally detained. The next day his lawyer announces that he will be indicted with charges of “conspiracy and instigation to commit crimes.” 

April 25, two days before his arrest, the public Venezolana de Televisión (VTV) had aired news claiming that Antonio Rivero was a CIA agent that had been recruited by the US State Department three years ago, with the aim of “denouncing the supposed ´cubanization´ of the FANB”, and shows a video of Rivero participating in the post April 14 election protests and giving instructions to protestors. Rivero is waiting for trial. On May 2 he started a hunger strike which he suspended on May 13.