Chavez
Says US Is Plotting To Kill Him
By: Cleto A.
Sojo
22 February, 2005
Venezuelanalysis.com
Caracas,
Venezuela. Feb 20, 2004 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denounced
that the U.S. government is preparing "new aggressions" against
him and against the Venezuelan people. "Before the world, before
our people, before the Latin American people, and before the people
of North America, for whom we have respect, I accuse the government
of the United States of continuing their aggressions against Venezuela,"
he said during his weekly live TV show.
"The U.S. government
has crashed in Venezuela, and will continue to crash as many times as
they want," Chavez said in reference to alleged past attempts by
the U.S. to remove him from power.
The mercurial Venezuelan
leader has repeatedly accused the U.S. government of trying to oust
him. Scattered evidence has linked the U.S. government to the 2002 coup
d'etat against Chavez, and the U.S. financed opposition groups in Venezuela
through the National Endowment for Democracy. Last August, twice-elected
Chavez won a referendum on his rule, which was largely organized by
groups that receive funds from the U.S. government.
The U.S. government
publicly criticizes the democratically-elected leader, accusing him
of undermining democracy. CIA Director Porter Goss recently said that
Chavez is consolidating his power by using technically legal tactics
to target his opponents and meddling in the region.
Chavez explicitly
said that the U.S. government is considering his assassination as one
of the options to get rid of him. "They know they cannot stage
a coup d'etat, they know that there is no Pinochet here because we have
generals, commanders and soldiers who are patriots, and who will not
bend their knees before the U.S. empire, they know that there is a people
with conscience which they will not be able to confuse through the media
they control." he said.
"They know
that the latest polls give Chavez a 70% approval rating. They know that
in the upcoming 2006 elections, Chavez is undefeatable," he continued.
"They failed
with the coup, with the economic sabotage... they know the Bolivarian
project advances victorious in the social arena, they know the impact
of the missions (social programs), they know how the economy is growing,
that we are recovering our economic sovereignty, and they know that
Venezuela is a world power when it comes to oil and gas. They know all
that," he added.
The leftist president cited the resolution of the recent diplomatic
crisis with Colombia over the kidnapping of a Colombian guerrilla leader,
as an example of the U.S. failure to isolate Venezuela in the region.
The U.S. asked several Latin American countries to pressure Chavez during
the dispute, a request that was either ignored or rejected. "The
U.S. was left alone once again... They should know that in spite of
their pressures and their attempts at blackmailing, they will not be
able to isolate Venezuela from our sister countries in Latin America
and the Caribbean, they will not be able to isolate us," Chavez
said.
Chavez hinted at
a continent-wide rebellion in case he is assassinated. "As a group
of Latin American workers and indigenous leaders told me recently, 'if
something happens to you, we, who are making an effort here to push
our forces through democratic channels, will assume that those rules
no longer apply.'" Chavez assured Bush that he did not wish for
that to happen, for President Bush's own good and for the good of the
U.S. population. "But [if that happens] the flame will not only
arise in Venezuela, but throughout the peoples of the Americas, so think
about it twice comrade Bush," he said.
The leader said
that "U.S. imperialism would bite the dust" in case of an
invasion to Venezuela. "Mr. Bush and his advisors think that by
killing Chavez, there will be a popular rebellion, the Marines will
come, the Venezuela people will give up, and the Venezuelan Armed Forces
will accept the invasion. They are wrong on that," he said.
Counting on revenues from high oil prices and an explosive economic
growth, the Venezuelan government recently approved the purchase of
40 helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles from Russia, and some
propeller-powered Tucano light attack planes from Brazil,
a move that has been seen as a preparation against a possible attack
or attempts at destabilizing Venezuela. The recent killings of Venezuelan
soldiers during confrontations with Colombian irregular forces, frequent
kidnappings near the Colombian border, the discovery of a Colombian
paramilitary camp in Caracas, have been cited by the government as a
justification for the arms purchase to renew Venezuelas aging
military equipment.
Chavez also threatened
with the interruption of the flow of oil to the U.S. in case he is assassinated.
"If these perverse plans succeed, Mr. Bush can forget about Venezuelan
oil... Forget about it Mr. Bush," he said. "Here in Venezuela,
either there is fatherland for all, or there is no fatherland for anybody."
He accused the U.S.
government of preparing the terrain for a possible intervention in Venezuela.
"As anyone who studies the behavior of the U.S. empire during the
last century discovers a common factor; every time the U.S. are going
to attack someone, they dont do it right away, they start by preparing
the terrain of their internal public opinion, one of the things that
worries them the most. Look at the example of Iraq; there was a campaign
against Saddam Hussein, accusing him of having chemical weapons, accusing
him of being a menace, by presenting evidence that resulted to be false,
to justify the aggression. That way, when the launch the attack, they
obtain the support of a big part of their internal public opinion. Almost
all media in the country support them... they look for allies in Europe,
from the U.N., they start preparing the terrain, and their current aggression
are part of this campaign."
U.S. right-leaning
news network Fox News, recently ran a series titled "The Iron Fist
of Hugo Chavez," in which Chavez is portrayed as a dictator who
uses violence to stay in power, and invests the countrys oil revenue
in weapons, instead of helping the poor. U.S. media frequently refer
to Chavez as a "strong-man," in spite of his multiple electoral
victories certified by foreign observers.
Chavez went on to
enumerate recent comments by U.S. officials characterizing him as a
menace, which he and other officials describe as an intervention in
the internal affairs of Venezuela. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger Noriega,
Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, Under Secretary of State
for Political Affairs Marc Grossman, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and
CIA director Porter Goss, have made public statements criticizing Chavez.
He said U.S. Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice is trying to personalize the conflict. "They
do not address the Venezuelan government, but just Hugo Chavez, in order
to personalize the conflict. She said that Hugo Chavez is a threat for
the continent, for democracy and for peace," Chavez added.
With regard to CIA
Director Goss' recent characterization of Venezuela as a "potentially
unstable country in 2005," Chavez said that given the economic
growth of Venezuela, which economy expanded by 17.3% in 2004, any instability
that may occur is being planned by Washington. "He [Goss] acknowledged
that the Venezuelan president is consolidating his power by using technically
legal tactics to target his opponents and meddling in the region."
According to Chavez,
two years ago Bush, using the excuse of fighting terror, gave the CIA
once again a green light to kill anybody "wherever, and whenever,
like Agent 007, even world leaders who are considered a threat,"
he said.
"Dont
make the mistake Mr. Bush, of ordering my assassination, because you
will regret it. Be assured that this people will make you regret it.
Not only this people, but many others around the world, because the
time of cowards is over, Mr. Bush, because in this era we are living,
peoples are rising everywhere, and there is no imperialism however powerful
they are or believe they are, that could stop the awakening of the peoples
that is occurring at the beginning of the 21st century," he added.
The Venezuelan leader
has criticized U.S. military interventions throughout the world, and
its alleged lack of commitment to policies that would prevent radical
environmental changes. Today he went on to say that U.S. government
advisers and planners are "not only planning the death of the world,
but are executing it. They are killing the world, our world, and our
grandchildren's world ," he said.
U.S. policy towards
Latin America has been the focus of criticisms by some analysts and
politicians. U.S. Democratic Senator Christopher J. Dodd recently hinted
that the Bush administration was unnecessarily straining bilateral relations
with Venezuela. At the confirmation hearing of U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, Dodd urged her to take a more moderate tone with Chavez
"This is an important relationship, it's important in the hemisphere.
We need to work at it," Dodd said. Rice had said that the government
of Venezuela is a negative force in the region.
Republican Senator
Lincoln Chafee hinted at Secretary Rice that it might be hypocritical
for the U.S. to treat some undemocratic leaders such as Pakistan's Musharraf
with respect, while offending democratically elected ones such as Chavez.
He highlighted Chavez's recent victory at a recall referendum. Chafee
told Rice, "It seems to me to say derogatory things about him may
be disrespectful to him, but also to the Venezuelan people." Rice
denied making derogatory comments about Chavez, who in turn has called
her "illiterate" when it comes to knowing about Venezuela.
"They have spoken," Chafee said in reference to the Venezuelan
people and the recall referendum.
Some observers characterize
the current U.S. policy towards as misguided, and too centered on Cuba.
Roger Noriega, and former special envoy to Latin America Otto Reich,
have been accused of giving the U.S. a bad image in Latin America with
their aggressive foreign policy.
Venezuela's Foreign
Relations Minister, Ali Rodriguez, recently said that Venezuela wants
to improve relations with the U.S. "In order to be able to maintain
a constructive relationship, it is absolutely necessary and imperative
to respect the sovereignty and the right to self-determination of other
countries," Rodriguez said.