Wednesday, March 16, 2005
The Financial Times says that the Bush administration is working on a policy to "contain" Hugo Chavez:
Meanwhile, Chavez's recent claims that the US is planning to assassinate him were supported by an unlikely source, ex-Contra supporter ex-Che murderer ex-CIA spook Felix Rodriguez:
A strategy aimed at fencing in the Chávez government is being prepared at the behest of President George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, senior US officials say. Roger Pardo-Maurer, deputy assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs at the Department of Defense, said the policy was being developed because Mr Chavez was employing a "hyena strategy" in the region.
"Chavez is a problem because he is clearly using his oil money and influence to introduce his conflictive style into the politics of other countries," Mr Pardo-Maurer said in an interview with the Financial Times. "He's picking on the countries whose social fabric is the weakest. In some cases it's downright subversion."
Meanwhile, Chavez's recent claims that the US is planning to assassinate him were supported by an unlikely source, ex-Contra supporter ex-Che murderer ex-CIA spook Felix Rodriguez:
The former CIA agent’s comments were made last week, on Thursday, during the talk show of a well-known supporter of the anti-Castro movement, Maria Elvira Salazar. Rodriguez affirmed during the program, "According to information I have about what is happening in Venezuela, it is possible that at some moment they [the Bush administration] will see itself obliged, for national security reasons and because of problems they have in Colombia, to implement a series of measures that will bring about a change in Venezuela."
The moderator, not satisfied with his vague answer, asked Rodriguez what kind of measures these might be and he responded, "They could be economic measures and at some point they could be military measures." He then added, "If at some point they are going to do it, they will do it openly." As an example, Rodriguez gave the Reagan administration’s strike against Khadafi, whose residence was bombed and whose adoptive daughter was killed in the process.
