Viernes, 31 de agosto de 2007
El enredo de los dólares
¡Qué escándalo ha causado la revelación sobre la subversión e injerencia del gobierno estadounidense en los medios de comunicación en Venezuela! Algunos dicen: “¡qué bueno desenmascarar a los infiltrados y los agentes del imperio! Otros gritan: “¡macartismo! ¡Persecución! ¡Qué denuncias más irresponsables! Algunos me acusan de ser sapa, inquisidora, investigadora superficial, doble-agente, mal-preparada y gringa sin derecho de participar en la política nacional (soy venezolana también), y otros catalogan mi trabajo de valiente, despertador, contribuyente a la defensa de la nación e importante para el futuro de la revolución.
Yo diría, ¡por fin se ha abierto el debate sobre la subversión imperial en el país! Y el tema duele, duele bastante porque muchos y muchas se dan cuenta del nivel de profundidad de esa injerencia, que a lo mejor, de manera inconsciente, subliminal y sutil, hasta ha entrado en sus propias vidas, o las de sus amigos, amigas y familiares.
Hay que aclarar (una vez más) varios puntos. Primero, la investigación que conduzco desde el año 2003 está fundamentada en el uso de la Ley de Acceso a la Información (Freedom of Information Act, FOIA) en Estados Unidos, que permite a los ciudadanos y ciudadanas de ese país solicitar cierta información y documentación de las diferentes agencias del estado y sus dependencias. Basada en cientas de solicitudes hechas por mí, el Departamento de Estado, el Departamento de Defensa, la NED, la USAID, la CIA, la DIA, el Departamento de Energía y otras entidades vinculadas con el gobierno estadounidense, me han entregado más de 5000 documentos relacionados con Venezuela durante los últimos años. Estos documentos no son públicos, ni fáciles de obtener. Es a través de un proceso legal con apelaciones y hasta demandas en las cortes federales de Washington, con mucho tacto, cuidado y tiempo dedicado, que se logra obtener esta información. Luego, el proceso de analizarla, leerla, contextualizarla e interpretarla se hace de manera meticulosa y profunda, para no llegar a conclusiones caprichosas o fáciles de desacreditar.
Es muy importante comprender la fuente de información que utilizo para hacer denuncias sobre la injerencia de Estados Unidos en Venezuela. No es información, como dicen muchos, “pública”, o “disponible en Internet”, y tampoco mi trabajo se trata de “traducir” documentos del inglés al español para aquellos que no dominan el idioma imperial. Claro, algunas veces utilizo fuentes públicas para contextualizar los documentos que desclasifican las diferentes entidades del gobierno estadounidense bajo mis solicitudes. Estas fuentes públicas incluyen presupuestos del gobierno estadounidense, declaraciones de funcionarios y voceros estadounidenses, artículos de prensa y acciones de ciertos personajes vinculados a Washington.
Por ejemplo, estas últimas denuncias sobre la injerencia de Estados Unidos en los medios de comunicación y el periodismo venezolano, realizadas inicialmente en mayo, junto con el camarada Mario Silva en el programa La Hojilla, y luego durante una rueda de prensa que hice desde la sede de teleSUR el 25 de mayo pasado, están fundamentadas no en información pública, sino en documentos recientemente desclasificados por el Departamento de Estado y la NED bajo mis solicitudes y repetidas apelaciones contra la censura y negación de esa información. Se tratan de presupuestos internos para las becas y viajes de los periodistas que participaron en el programa de propaganda del Departamento de Estado durante los años 2000-2005, disfrazado bajo el nombre Visitantes Internacionales – Intercambio Educacional y Cultural; listas de participantes; perfiles de los periodistas seleccionados por la Embajada de Estados Unidos en Venezuela y enviados por un sistema de cable cifrado de la Embajada en Caracas a Washington; memoranda interna del Departamento de Estado y hasta correos electrónicos entre funcionarios del Departamento de Estado sobre las visitas de los periodistas a Estados Unidos. Pregunto, ¿esa información está a la disposición de todo el mundo sin solicitar bajo ley?
Cuando ya se comprende bien la fuente de la información, se puede entonces dejar de hablar de “superficialidad”, “macartismo” y “sapismo”. No elaboré ninguna lista ni fungí como “traductora” irresponsable para hacer unas denuncias infundadas. Esta información forma parte de una investigación que tiene cuatro años en camino y que ha traídos como resultado dos publicaciones principales: El Código Chávez: Descifrando la Intervención de Estados Unidos en Venezuela y Bush vs. Chávez: La Guerra de Washington Contra Venezuela, ambos publicados en varios idiomas y países y aquí en Venezuela editados por Monte Ávila Editores. No fue en mayo pasado que comencé a hablar sobre este tema, y jamás denuncié sin antes asegurar la veracidad de la información.
Ahora, desde que lo hablamos en el programa La Hojilla, hasta la rueda de prensa que hice en teleSUR, y luego durante las declaraciones que realizamos por Mario Silva y yo como invitados de la Comisión de Ciencia, Tecnología y Comunicación Social de la Asamblea Nacional, siempre he mantenido que estas denuncias no se tratan de acusar o perseguir a ninguna persona, sino de alertar sobre una situación de subversión e infiltración que amenaza la estabilidad de la Revolución Bolivariana y ponen en peligro la soberanía de la Nación.
Sin embargo, se han ido de fiesta con las denuncias, hasta montando una campaña a favor de la Agencia Central de Inteligencia (CIA) –uno de los órganos más nefastos, asesinos, genocidas y bestiales de la historia del mundo– y atacándome a mí, al Presidente de la República y al pueblo venezolano, con comentarios racistas, xenófobos y clasistas. Y lo peor de todo ha sido la reacción de algunos individuos dentro del proceso revolucionario que se han defendido estas “relaciones” con el gobierno estadounidense (a pesar de la clara intención y objetivo detrás de los programas de influir sobre las acciones de los participantes y promover la agenda de Washington) y no se han pronunciado en contra de la campaña difamatoria, racista y altamente peligrosa promovida por los medios de comunicación corporativos en el país.
El último punto que hay que aclarar (una vez más) es sobre la importancia de tomar en serio lo que significan las denuncias y los documentos relacionados con mi investigación sobre la injerencia estadounidense en Venezuela. Desacreditar la investigación y dejar de un lado el tema simplemente porque algunos compatriotas se encuentran lamentablemente involucrados –incluso en contra de su voluntad o sin conocimiento– sería un grave error.
Hay que dejar de hablar sobre los “33” periodistas de la lista del Departamento de Estado, y comenzar de hablar sobre los más de 300 grupos, partidos políticos y organizaciones aquí en Venezuela que hoy en día reciben financiamiento y asesoría del gobierno de Estados Unidos a través de la USAID, la NED, el Departamento de Estado y el Congreso de Estados Unidos. De esos 300 no están incluidos los que se relacionan de manera financiera o política con la CIA y el Pentágono. Esa información lo sabremos dentro de unos 20 años, al menos si los cuerpos de seguridad venezolanos los descubran antes.
Agradezco profundamente todos los mensajes y expresiones de apoyo a mi trabajo y al de Mario Silva, espero que podamos abrir un diálogo y un debate real sobre el tema de la subversión e injerencia de Estados Unidos en Venezuela, y sus redes sofisticadas y sutiles de penetración e infiltración en casi todos los sectores de la sociedad. Ese debate es crítico para el bienestar y el futuro de esta revolución, y servirá como base de defensa para los pueblos hermanos de la región, y del mundo, que sufren de las mismas amenazas y peligros.
Foto: Archivo MinCI
Artículo de opinión de Eva Golinger / Radio Nacional de Venezuela (RNV)
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Friday, August 31, 2007
Operation Condor Part 2: George Bush Is Restarting Latin America's 'Dirty Wars'.
By Benjamin Dangl, AlterNet
Two soldiers in Paraguay stand in front of a camera. One of them holds an automatic weapon. John Lennon's "Imagine" plays in the background. This Orwellian juxtaposition of war and peace is from a new video posted online by U.S. soldiers stationed in Paraguay. The video footage and other military activity in this heart of the continent represent a new wave of U.S.-backed militarism in Latin America.
It's a reprise of a familiar tune. In the 1970s and 1980s, Paraguay's longtime dictator, Gen. Alfredo Stroessner http://www.coha.org/2006/09/25/paraguay-–-us-post-stroessner-relations, collaborated with the region's other dictators through Operation Condor, which used kidnapping, torture and murder to squash dissent and political opponents. Stroessner's human rights record was so bad that even Ronald Reagan distanced himself from the leader. Carrying on this infamous legacy, Paraguay now illustrates four new characteristics of Latin America's right-wing militarism: joint exercises with the U.S. military in counterinsurgency training, monitoring potential dissidents and social organizations, the use of private mercenaries for security and the criminalization of social protest through "anti-terrorism" tactics and legislation.
In May of 2005, the Paraguayan Senate voted to allow U.S. troops to operate in Paraguay with total immunity. Washington had threatened to cut off millions in aid to the country if Paraguay did not grant the U.S. troops entry. In July of 2005 hundreds of U.S. soldiers arrived in the country http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060717/dangl, and Washington's funding for counterterrorism efforts in Paraguay doubled. The U.S. troops conducted various operations and joint training exercises with Paraguayan forces, including so-called Medical Readiness Training Exercises (MEDRETEs). Orlando Castillo, a military policy expert at the human rights rights organization Servicio, Paz y Justicia in Asunción, Paraguay, says the MEDRETEs were "observation" operations aimed at developing "a type of map that identifies not just the natural resources in the area, but also the social organizations and leaders of different communities."
Castillo, in his cool Asunción office, with the standard Paraguayan herbal tea, tereré in his hand, said these operations marked a shift in U.S. military strategy. "The kind of training that used to just happen at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia, is now decentralized," he explained. "The U.S. military is now establishing new mechanisms of cooperation and training with armed forces." Combined efforts, such as MEDRETEs, are part of this agenda. "It is a way to remain present, while maintaining a broad reach throughout the Americas." Castillo said this new wave of militarism is aimed at considering internal populations as potential enemies and preventing insurgent leftists from coming to power.
But Bruce Kleiner of the U.S. Embassy in Paraguay said that the MEDRETEs "provide humanitarian service to some of Paraguay's most disadvantaged citizens." But this video ( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2508334792080014639&q=U.S.+military+paraguay&total=5&start=0&num=10&so=0&type ) by Captain William Johnson shows that there's more to the MEDRETE operations, with local Paraguayans being questioned as they receive treatment, as well as events and ceremonies aimed at strengthening ties between the military personnel of both countries. Often, heavily armed men are seen walking past lines of local families while they wait for medicine and questions. The lighthearted depiction of these joint military operations seen in the video is in sharp contrast with reports from local citizens.
A group of representatives from human rights organizations and universities from all over the world, including the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo in Argentina and a group from the University of Toulouse, France, traveled to Paraguay last July as part of the Campaign for the Demilitarization of the Americas (CADA) to observe and report on ( http://alainet.org/active/12453&lang=es ) the repression going on in the country linked to the presence of U.S. troops. The local citizens they interviewed said they were not told what medications they were given during the U.S. MEDRETEs. Patients said they were often given the same treatments regardless of their illness. In some cases, the medicine produced hemorrhages and abortions. When the medical treatment took place, patients reported that they were asked if they belonged to any kind of labor or social organization. Among the leaders of such organizations, dozens have been disappeared and tortured in recent years, just as they were during Latin America's "dirty wars" in the Reagan era.
While Orlando Castillo is adamant that the historic military links between Paraguay and the United States remain strong, the U.S. troops that arrived in 2005 have reportedly left the country. In December 2006, the Paraguayan Senate and executive branch, responding to pressure from neighboring countries, voted to end the troops' immunity. Paraguay would have been excluded from the lucrative regional trade bloc of Mercosur if it continued to grant immunity to U.S. forces.
Privatizing repression
Castillo sees private mercenaries, or paramilitaries, as another key piece of the new militarism puzzle. In Paraguay, the strongest paramilitary group is the Citizens Guard. "These paramilitary groups are made of people from the community. They establish curfews and rules of conduct, and monitor the activity of the community. They also intervene in family disputes and can kick people out of the community or off land ... this all very similar to the paramilitary activities in Colombia." Castillo said that while this activity is illegal, the police and judges simply look the other way. Many of the paramilitaries are connected to large agribusinesses and landowners and have been linked to increased repression of small farming families that have resisted the expansion of the soy ( http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3093/the_multinational_beanfield_war/ ) industry, a cash-crop mostly for export. The shadow army of the Citizens Guard is as big as the state security forces: These paramilitary groups ( http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3441 ) have nearly 22,000 members, while the Paraguayan police force is only 9,000 strong and the military has 13,000 members.
The use of private security is on the rise throughout the Americas. Journalist Cyril Mychalejko reported that the Bush administration was recently incriminated ( http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/848/1/ ) in a scandal involving Chiquita Brands International Inc. and their funding of paramilitaries to repress a discontented labor force in Colombia. The paramilitary group, the United Self-Defense Force of Colombia (AUC) is designated by the State Department as a terrorist organization. In 2003, a former executive at Chiquita told Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff that they were paying the paramilitary group. Chertoff looked the other way, allowing the company to pay an additional $134,000 to the AUC throughout that year.
Castillo's comments about the new U.S. military strategy for the region apply to all of Latin America. Carrying on the legacy of the School of the Americas, the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) ( http://www.cispes.org/documents/Ilea%20flyer_march07_bilingual.pdf ) was recently opened in El Salvador, where similar training is going on to broaden the military's reach in the area.
Exporting the "War on Terror"
Anti-terrorism rhetoric and legislation is being mixed into this deadly cocktail in Paraguay, as it is across Latin America. The Paraguayan Senate is scheduled to pass an anti-terrorism law that will criminalize social protest and establish penalties of up to 40 years in prison for participating in such activities. A large march against the passage of the law took place in the country's capital on July 26.
The U.S.-based corporate media plays a part in what has become a war against labor movements and leftist politicians. Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, has regularly been portrayed ( http://www.jeffreygoldberg.net/articles/tny/a_reporter_at_large_in_the_par_1.php ) in the American media as a haven and training ground for Middle Eastern terrorist organizations. Regional analysts ( http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060717/dangl ) believe this terrifying narrative has aided the Pentagon in its military plans for the country. Terrorism talk is similarly being used for political purposes elsewhere in Latin America. The U.S.A Patriot Act was used to revoke ( http://www.alternet.org/story/33005/ ) the U.S. travel visa for Bolivian human rights leader and labor organizer Leonilda Zurita shortly after leftist president Evo Morales came to power.
In Venezuela's national divide between pro- and anti-Chavez citizens, everything is political. CNN recently entered the fray when it aired footage that Venezuelan governmental officials said falsely linked Chavez to Al-Qaeda. The Venezuelan government has filed charges against CNN ( http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Rowdy_protests_continue_after_Chavez_TV_0529.html ) for the act. Information Minister William Lara said CNN showed photos of Chavez alongside those of an Al-Qaeda leader. He explained that "CNN broadcast a lie which linked President Chavez to violence and murder." CNN denied having "any intention of associating President Chavez with al Qaeda …"
In Nicaragua, the media has recently been used as a tool by Washington to promote its foreign policy agenda. A long time lab rat for U.S. imperialism, Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America and the site of a socialist revolution in the 1980s when the Sandinistas overthrew the Somoza dictatorship. The specter of a Sandinista-led government still haunts the White House. In a 2001 presidential election in Nicaragua when Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega was running for re-election, (right after 9/11) similar tactics were employed, and the media was a key tool. In an ad in the Nicaraguan paper La Prensa, Jeb Bush was quoted as saying ( http://www.therationalradical.com/dsep/jeb-bush.htm ) : "Daniel Ortega is an enemy of everything the United States represents. Further, he is a friend of our enemies. Ortega has a relationship of more than 30 years with states and individuals who shelter and condone international terrorism." The tactic worked, and the pro-free market, right-wing Washington ally Enrique Bolaños beat Ortega. In the lead up to the presidential election on Nov. 5, 2006, former U.S. Lt. Col. Oliver North visited Nicaragua to warn voters not to elect Daniel Ortega. In the 1980s North was convicted of violating U.S. law to organize the Contra guerrillas against the Sandinista government. North reminded voters that the same terror could return to Nicaragua under a new Ortega administration. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., threatened another trade embargo and to prevent money sent from Nicaraguans in the United States from reaching their families at home. U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua, Paul Trivelli said ( http://www.cepr.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=460&Itemid=45 ) that if Ortega won the elections, the United States would "re-evaluate relations" with the country. The media was used against Ortega as well, with TV commercials showing corpses from the Contra war in the 1980s, warning citizens against voting for the left's choice. This time, however, the media campaign backfired, and Ortega won the election.
Paraguayan journalist Marco Castillo shook as head while contemplating this new landscape of repression. Dozens of social organization leaders and dissidents have been disappeared and tortured in recent years. "Impunity reigns," he said. "This is as bad as it was during the worst years of the Stroessner dictatorship."
Benjamin Dangl won a 2007 Project Censored Award for his coverage of U.S. military operations in Paraguay. He is the author of The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia ( http://www.boliviabook.com/ ) (AK Press, 2007).
© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/58605/
"IN TIMES OF UNIVERSAL DECEIT, TELLING THE TRUTH WILL BE A REVOLUTIONARY ACT." - George Orwell
“If the world is upside down the way it is now, wouldn’t we have to turn it over to get it to stand up straight?” - Eduardo Galeano
Two soldiers in Paraguay stand in front of a camera. One of them holds an automatic weapon. John Lennon's "Imagine" plays in the background. This Orwellian juxtaposition of war and peace is from a new video posted online by U.S. soldiers stationed in Paraguay. The video footage and other military activity in this heart of the continent represent a new wave of U.S.-backed militarism in Latin America.
It's a reprise of a familiar tune. In the 1970s and 1980s, Paraguay's longtime dictator, Gen. Alfredo Stroessner http://www.coha.org/2006/09/25/paraguay-–-us-post-stroessner-relations, collaborated with the region's other dictators through Operation Condor, which used kidnapping, torture and murder to squash dissent and political opponents. Stroessner's human rights record was so bad that even Ronald Reagan distanced himself from the leader. Carrying on this infamous legacy, Paraguay now illustrates four new characteristics of Latin America's right-wing militarism: joint exercises with the U.S. military in counterinsurgency training, monitoring potential dissidents and social organizations, the use of private mercenaries for security and the criminalization of social protest through "anti-terrorism" tactics and legislation.
In May of 2005, the Paraguayan Senate voted to allow U.S. troops to operate in Paraguay with total immunity. Washington had threatened to cut off millions in aid to the country if Paraguay did not grant the U.S. troops entry. In July of 2005 hundreds of U.S. soldiers arrived in the country http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060717/dangl, and Washington's funding for counterterrorism efforts in Paraguay doubled. The U.S. troops conducted various operations and joint training exercises with Paraguayan forces, including so-called Medical Readiness Training Exercises (MEDRETEs). Orlando Castillo, a military policy expert at the human rights rights organization Servicio, Paz y Justicia in Asunción, Paraguay, says the MEDRETEs were "observation" operations aimed at developing "a type of map that identifies not just the natural resources in the area, but also the social organizations and leaders of different communities."
Castillo, in his cool Asunción office, with the standard Paraguayan herbal tea, tereré in his hand, said these operations marked a shift in U.S. military strategy. "The kind of training that used to just happen at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia, is now decentralized," he explained. "The U.S. military is now establishing new mechanisms of cooperation and training with armed forces." Combined efforts, such as MEDRETEs, are part of this agenda. "It is a way to remain present, while maintaining a broad reach throughout the Americas." Castillo said this new wave of militarism is aimed at considering internal populations as potential enemies and preventing insurgent leftists from coming to power.
But Bruce Kleiner of the U.S. Embassy in Paraguay said that the MEDRETEs "provide humanitarian service to some of Paraguay's most disadvantaged citizens." But this video ( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2508334792080014639&q=U.S.+military+paraguay&total=5&start=0&num=10&so=0&type ) by Captain William Johnson shows that there's more to the MEDRETE operations, with local Paraguayans being questioned as they receive treatment, as well as events and ceremonies aimed at strengthening ties between the military personnel of both countries. Often, heavily armed men are seen walking past lines of local families while they wait for medicine and questions. The lighthearted depiction of these joint military operations seen in the video is in sharp contrast with reports from local citizens.
A group of representatives from human rights organizations and universities from all over the world, including the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo in Argentina and a group from the University of Toulouse, France, traveled to Paraguay last July as part of the Campaign for the Demilitarization of the Americas (CADA) to observe and report on ( http://alainet.org/active/12453&lang=es ) the repression going on in the country linked to the presence of U.S. troops. The local citizens they interviewed said they were not told what medications they were given during the U.S. MEDRETEs. Patients said they were often given the same treatments regardless of their illness. In some cases, the medicine produced hemorrhages and abortions. When the medical treatment took place, patients reported that they were asked if they belonged to any kind of labor or social organization. Among the leaders of such organizations, dozens have been disappeared and tortured in recent years, just as they were during Latin America's "dirty wars" in the Reagan era.
While Orlando Castillo is adamant that the historic military links between Paraguay and the United States remain strong, the U.S. troops that arrived in 2005 have reportedly left the country. In December 2006, the Paraguayan Senate and executive branch, responding to pressure from neighboring countries, voted to end the troops' immunity. Paraguay would have been excluded from the lucrative regional trade bloc of Mercosur if it continued to grant immunity to U.S. forces.
Privatizing repression
Castillo sees private mercenaries, or paramilitaries, as another key piece of the new militarism puzzle. In Paraguay, the strongest paramilitary group is the Citizens Guard. "These paramilitary groups are made of people from the community. They establish curfews and rules of conduct, and monitor the activity of the community. They also intervene in family disputes and can kick people out of the community or off land ... this all very similar to the paramilitary activities in Colombia." Castillo said that while this activity is illegal, the police and judges simply look the other way. Many of the paramilitaries are connected to large agribusinesses and landowners and have been linked to increased repression of small farming families that have resisted the expansion of the soy ( http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3093/the_multinational_beanfield_war/ ) industry, a cash-crop mostly for export. The shadow army of the Citizens Guard is as big as the state security forces: These paramilitary groups ( http://americas.irc-online.org/am/3441 ) have nearly 22,000 members, while the Paraguayan police force is only 9,000 strong and the military has 13,000 members.
The use of private security is on the rise throughout the Americas. Journalist Cyril Mychalejko reported that the Bush administration was recently incriminated ( http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/848/1/ ) in a scandal involving Chiquita Brands International Inc. and their funding of paramilitaries to repress a discontented labor force in Colombia. The paramilitary group, the United Self-Defense Force of Colombia (AUC) is designated by the State Department as a terrorist organization. In 2003, a former executive at Chiquita told Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff that they were paying the paramilitary group. Chertoff looked the other way, allowing the company to pay an additional $134,000 to the AUC throughout that year.
Castillo's comments about the new U.S. military strategy for the region apply to all of Latin America. Carrying on the legacy of the School of the Americas, the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) ( http://www.cispes.org/documents/Ilea%20flyer_march07_bilingual.pdf ) was recently opened in El Salvador, where similar training is going on to broaden the military's reach in the area.
Exporting the "War on Terror"
Anti-terrorism rhetoric and legislation is being mixed into this deadly cocktail in Paraguay, as it is across Latin America. The Paraguayan Senate is scheduled to pass an anti-terrorism law that will criminalize social protest and establish penalties of up to 40 years in prison for participating in such activities. A large march against the passage of the law took place in the country's capital on July 26.
The U.S.-based corporate media plays a part in what has become a war against labor movements and leftist politicians. Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, has regularly been portrayed ( http://www.jeffreygoldberg.net/articles/tny/a_reporter_at_large_in_the_par_1.php ) in the American media as a haven and training ground for Middle Eastern terrorist organizations. Regional analysts ( http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060717/dangl ) believe this terrifying narrative has aided the Pentagon in its military plans for the country. Terrorism talk is similarly being used for political purposes elsewhere in Latin America. The U.S.A Patriot Act was used to revoke ( http://www.alternet.org/story/33005/ ) the U.S. travel visa for Bolivian human rights leader and labor organizer Leonilda Zurita shortly after leftist president Evo Morales came to power.
In Venezuela's national divide between pro- and anti-Chavez citizens, everything is political. CNN recently entered the fray when it aired footage that Venezuelan governmental officials said falsely linked Chavez to Al-Qaeda. The Venezuelan government has filed charges against CNN ( http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Rowdy_protests_continue_after_Chavez_TV_0529.html ) for the act. Information Minister William Lara said CNN showed photos of Chavez alongside those of an Al-Qaeda leader. He explained that "CNN broadcast a lie which linked President Chavez to violence and murder." CNN denied having "any intention of associating President Chavez with al Qaeda …"
In Nicaragua, the media has recently been used as a tool by Washington to promote its foreign policy agenda. A long time lab rat for U.S. imperialism, Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America and the site of a socialist revolution in the 1980s when the Sandinistas overthrew the Somoza dictatorship. The specter of a Sandinista-led government still haunts the White House. In a 2001 presidential election in Nicaragua when Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega was running for re-election, (right after 9/11) similar tactics were employed, and the media was a key tool. In an ad in the Nicaraguan paper La Prensa, Jeb Bush was quoted as saying ( http://www.therationalradical.com/dsep/jeb-bush.htm ) : "Daniel Ortega is an enemy of everything the United States represents. Further, he is a friend of our enemies. Ortega has a relationship of more than 30 years with states and individuals who shelter and condone international terrorism." The tactic worked, and the pro-free market, right-wing Washington ally Enrique Bolaños beat Ortega. In the lead up to the presidential election on Nov. 5, 2006, former U.S. Lt. Col. Oliver North visited Nicaragua to warn voters not to elect Daniel Ortega. In the 1980s North was convicted of violating U.S. law to organize the Contra guerrillas against the Sandinista government. North reminded voters that the same terror could return to Nicaragua under a new Ortega administration. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., threatened another trade embargo and to prevent money sent from Nicaraguans in the United States from reaching their families at home. U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua, Paul Trivelli said ( http://www.cepr.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=460&Itemid=45 ) that if Ortega won the elections, the United States would "re-evaluate relations" with the country. The media was used against Ortega as well, with TV commercials showing corpses from the Contra war in the 1980s, warning citizens against voting for the left's choice. This time, however, the media campaign backfired, and Ortega won the election.
Paraguayan journalist Marco Castillo shook as head while contemplating this new landscape of repression. Dozens of social organization leaders and dissidents have been disappeared and tortured in recent years. "Impunity reigns," he said. "This is as bad as it was during the worst years of the Stroessner dictatorship."
Benjamin Dangl won a 2007 Project Censored Award for his coverage of U.S. military operations in Paraguay. He is the author of The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia ( http://www.boliviabook.com/ ) (AK Press, 2007).
© 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/58605/
"IN TIMES OF UNIVERSAL DECEIT, TELLING THE TRUTH WILL BE A REVOLUTIONARY ACT." - George Orwell
“If the world is upside down the way it is now, wouldn’t we have to turn it over to get it to stand up straight?” - Eduardo Galeano
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