A new coup attempt in Venezuela?

[OPINMYND81]

On the 2nd of December, Venezuelans will go vote on a referendum on a number of constitutional amendments which should give more power to the lower classes and help strengthen Chavez's government to be able to enact more progressive policies. Nautrally, the well-to-do upper and middle classes are entirely opposed to this and are pushing hard for a 'No' victory. It would appear they're not the only ones.

See _http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/2914

CIA Operation "Pliers" Uncovered in Venezuela
November 28th 2007, by Eva Golinger

Last night CNN en Español aired the above image, which captions at the bottom "Who Killed him?" by "accident". The image of President Chavez with the caption about killing him below, which some could say subliminally incites to assassination, was a "production error" mistakenly made in the CNN en Español newsroom. The news anchor had been narrarating a story about the situation between Colombia and Venezuela and then switched to a story about an unsolved homicide but - oops - someone forgot to change the screen image and President Chavez was left with the killing statement below. Today they apologized and admitted it was a rather "unfortunate" and "regrettable" mistake. Yes, it was. (OPMD - Seems like someone might be trying to get the idea of someone killing Chavez into the mass consciousness)

On a scarier note, an internal CIA memorandum has been obtained by Venezuelan counterintelligence from the US Embassy in Caracas that reveals a very sinister - almost fantastical, were it not true - plan to destabilize Venezuela during the coming days. The plan, titled "OPERATION PLIERS" was authored by CIA Officer Michael Middleton Steere and was addressed to CIA Director General Michael Hayden in Washington. Steere is stationed at the US Embassy in Caracas under the guise of a Regional Affairs Officer. The internal memorandum, dated November 20, 2007, references the "Advances of the Final Stage of Operation Pliers", and confirms that the operation is coordinated by the team of Human Intelligence (HUMINT) in Venezuela. The memo summarizes the different scenarios that the CIA has been working on in Venezuela for the upcoming referendum vote on December 2nd. The Electoral Scenario, as it's phrased, confirms that the voting tendencies will not change substantially before Sunday, December 2nd, and that the SI (YES) vote in favor of the constitutional reform has an advantage of about 10-13 points over the NO vote. The CIA estimates abstention around 60% and states in the memo that this voting tendency is irreversible before the elections.

Officer Steere emphasizes the importance and success of the public relations and propaganda campaign that the CIA has been funding with more than $8 million during the past month - funds that the CIA confirms are transfered through the USAID contracted company, Development Alternatives, Inc., which set up operations in June 2002 to run the USAID Office for Transition Initiatives that funds and advises opposition NGOs and political parties in Venezuela. The CIA memo specifically refers to these propaganda initiatives as "psychological operations" (PSYOPS), that include contracting polling companies to create fraudulent polls that show the NO vote with an advantage over the SI vote, which is false. The CIA also confirms in the memo that it is working with international press agencies to distort the data and information about the referendum, and that it coordinates in Venezuela with a team of journalists and media organized and directed by the President of Globovision, Alberto Federico Ravell. (OPMD - Shades of Florida during Election 2000? Kinda like Roger Ailes getting FOX to call Florida for Bush and CNN and the rest of the gang following suit?)

CIA Officer Michael Steere recommends to General Michael Hayden two different strategies to work simultaneously: Impede the referendum and refuse to recognize the results once the SI vote wins. Though these strategies appear contradictory, Steere claims that they must be implemented together precisely to encourage activities that aim toward impeding the referendum and at the same time prepare the conditions for a rejection of the results.

How is this to be done?

In the memo, the CIA proposes the following tactics and actions:

* Take the streets and protest with violent, disruptive actions across the nation
* Generate a climate of ungovernability
* Provoke a general uprising in a substantial part of the population
* Engage in a "plan to implode" the voting centers on election day by encouraging opposition voters to "VOTE and REMAIN" in their centers to agitate others
* Start to release data during the early hours of the afternoon on Sunday that favor the NO vote (in clear violation of election regulations)
* Coordinate these activities with Ravell & Globovision and international press agencies
* Coordinate with ex-militar officers and coupsters Pena Esclusa and Guyon Cellis - this will be done by the Military Attache for Defense and Army at the US Embassy in Caracas, Office of Defense, Attack and Operations (DAO)

To encourage rejection of the results, the CIA proposes:

* Creating an acceptance in the public opinion that the NO vote will win for sure
* Using polling companies contracted by the CIA
* Criticize and discredit the National Elections Council
* Generate a sensation of fraud
* Use a team of experts from the universities that will talk about how the data from the Electoral Registry has been manipulated and will build distrust in the voting system

The CIA memo also talks about:

* Isolating Chavez in the international community
* Trying to achieve unity amongst the opposition
* Seek an aliance between those abstentionists and those who will vote "NO"
* Sustain firmly the propaganda against Chavez
* Execute military actions to support the opposition mobilizations and propagandistic occupations
* Finalize the operative preparations on the US military bases in Curacao and Colombia to provide support to actions in Venezuela
* Control a part of the country during the next 72-120 hours
* Encourage a military rebellion inside the National Guard forces and other components

Those involved in these actions as detailed in the CIA memo are:

* The CIA Office in Venezuela - Office of Regional Affairs, and Officer Michael Steere
* US Embassy in Venezuela, Ambassador Patrick Duddy
* Office of Defense, Attack and Operations (DAO) at the US Embassy in Caracas and Military Attache Richard Nazario

Venezuelan Political Parties:

* Comando Nacional de la Resistencia
* Accion Democratica
* Primero Justicia
* Bandera Roja

Media:

* Alberto Federico Ravell & Globovision
* Interamerican Press Society (IAPA) or SIP in Spanish
* International Press Agencies

Venezuelans:

* Pena Esclusa
* Guyon Cellis
* Dean of the Simon Bolivar University, Rudolph Benjamin Podolski
* Dean of the Andres Bello Catholic University, Ugalde
* Students: Yon Goicochea, Juan Mejias, Ronel Gaglio, Gabriel Gallo, Ricardo Sanchez

Operation Tenaza has the objective of encouraging an armed insurrection in Venezuela against the government of President Chavez that will justify an intervention of US forces, stationed on the military bases nearby in Curacao and Colombia. The Operation mentions two countries in code: as Blue and Green. These refer to Curacao and Colombia, where the US has operative, active and equipped bases that have been reinforced over the past year and a half in anticipation of a conflict with Venezuela.

The document confirms that psychological operations are the CIA's best and most effective weapon to date against Venezuela, and it will continue its efforts to influence international public opinion regarding President Chavez and the situation in the country.

Operation Tenaza is a very alarming plan that aims to destabilize Venezuela and overthrow (again) its legitimate and democratic (and very popularly support) president. The plan will fail, primarily because it has been discovered, but it must be denounced around the world as an unacceptable violation of Venezuela's sovereignty. (OPMD - Who says that just because its been 'discovered' that it will necessarily fail?)

The original document in English will be available in the public sphere soon for viewing and authenticating purposes. And it also contains more information than has been revealed here.

For the full text in Spanish, see: Operación Tenaza: Informe confidencial de la CIA devela plan de saboteo al referéndum del 2 de diciembre

For those fluent in Spanish here's the link for the version in that langauage - _http://www.aporrea.org/tiburon/n105390.html

Sounds like your standard CIA Black Ops fare mixed in with a little Neocon election shenanigans à la Elections 2000 and 2004. What struck me as a bit naïve was Golinger's claim that just because this document was captured and released that the US will suddenly call off the operation and leave the Venezuelan coup-planners twisting in the wind almost like in the Bay of Pigs event. After all, most intelligent people throughout the world are already aware of the US's activities in the region, and have been for many decades, and they did not need these kinds of 'discoveries' to clue them into it either. For the US, it's just 'business as usual' and they stand to gain a lot more by seeing it through than by aborting due to an embarrasing leak (heck, maybe it's a deliberate leak to help ensure the likelyhood of chaos breaking out that day as poorer Venezuelans are told by Chavez that the US is messing with their votes).

The way I see it, either way the referendum has a good chance of getting ugly. Even if the 'Sí' side won, wouldn't the coup-planners still cause riots and shout 'election fraud' and generally try to carry out the coup to the possibility of getting rid of Chavez and taking over? Likewise, if the 'No' side ended up winning (most likely through illegal means) wouldn't the lower classes of Venezuelans smell fraud and start demonstrating in the streets, perhaps even violently? Either way that leads to chaos and thus opens the possibility of a civil war. Either way the US stands ready to use that chaos and fighting as an excuse to intervene military and help out the coup-planners in the hopes of disposing Chavez. The US might be willing to earn more enmity in Latin America and elsewere if it means disposing Chavez and getting control over Venezuelan oil. If that ends up happening that might even lead to something of greater concern.

Recall in an interview that Aaron Russo did, he discusses about his conversation with a member of the Rockefeller family before 9/11 where the Rockefeller warned Russo that there would be incident [9/11] and after the US would go into Afghanistan, Iraq and get rid of Chavez and take control over Venezuela's oil. Obviously the first two happened and the third was tried in 2002 without success. Obviously if the first coup happened in 2002 then Rockefeller planned something beyond taking Venezuelan oil, most likely starting a regional war in the Middle East with Iran. Now the talk about bombing and invading Iran has been going on for some 3 years now (if not longer) and it seems weird that no real move has been made so far. Could it be that the US couldn't risk starting the Iran operation until it secured a major source of oil outside of the Middle East?

Chavez and been very chummy with Ahmadinejad for quite some time. He in fact has offered a quasi-defence pact with Iran by threatening to cut off oil supplies to the US if the US moved against Iran.
(see 'Chavez warns against Iran attack' - _http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5358486.stm)

With the Strait of Hormuz shut down and oil from Venezuela cut off, the US risked a reliable source of oil to help fuel its economy not to mention its military operations. It, in effect, was kind of a gun that Chavez had to the Neocon's head to discourage them from trying anything against Iran. If Chavez is removed and Venezuela's oil falls into friendlier hands, the US will have removed that gun. By securing a reliable, and more closer and secure, source of oil, the US could keep it's economy and military running (along with that of her allies) and launch an attack against Iran without fear of cutting off Middle Eastern oil to itself and the rest of the world (mostly to that 'strategic competitor' China at any rate).

Could it be that by removing Chavez, Bush and handlers will now have a much easier time of continuing their plans on carrying out an attack on Iran and fulfilling their desire to light all of the Middle East on fire?

 

[Aeneas]

Though Venezuela is the key area of interest, the US is doing it's bid to try and stem the spread of reform across Latin America. In Bolivia there is a lot of unrest with 6 out of 9 provinces in strike, caused by the "opposition". And we know that this opposition consist of the US supported land owners and aristocracy, who have enjoyed their wealth at the expense of the poor indigenous people.

But the election in Venezuela on Sunday is going to be very interesting and the outcome hugely important.

See Outside interference! Bolivian provinces strike over reforms