Global Research

There is no doubt that a conspiracy against the Bolivarian regime is gradually and deliberately being implemented. Events in Venezuela are very reminiscent of the scenario of the weakening, compromising and subsequent overthrow of the government of Salvador Allende in Chile in 1973. Constant deficits of essential food commodities, interruptions of electrical power and water supplies, the growth of street crime, corruption scandals, and uncontrollable inflation all affect the mindset of Venezuelans…

President of the National Assembly Diosdado Cabello has openly accused the radical opposition of planning a creeping conspiracy: «The events of April 2002 are repeating themselves, and the same actors are playing the main roles». Cabello stated that the right wing forces in the country plan to seize power and bring the conquests of the Bolivarian revolution to naught: «They want to return to the lawlessness of the Fourth Republic, political persecutions, murders, the complete disappearance of opponents, the dictates of neoliberalism, and constant violence». According to Cabello, entrepreneurial circles are directly involved in the conspiracy, but try to «remain in the shadows».

Threats of bodily harm are constantly being made against functionaries of the Bolivarian government and members of the ruling PSUV party. The upcoming municipal elections on December 8 will be a serious test for the government and a demonstration of how much the population really supports it. If the election results show that the opposition has gained leading positions, its pressure on the regime will increase noticeably. Diosdado Cabello has not ruled out such a possibility and warned the conspirators of the only possible response: «If they take the first step, we don’t plan to waste time on contemplation. Our response will be crushing: the people, the army and the government will repulse fascism together».

The conspiracy is being planned mainly through the channels of the CIA and the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. The Internet journal Caracola.com reported on one of the centers of destabilization and its planned program in September of this year. This center is operating in Cucuta, a Colombian city on the Venezuelan border. The leaders of three subversive organizations –Centro de Pensamiento Primero Colombia, FTI Consulting and Fundación Internacionalismo Democrático – meet there regularly. The latter organization is headed by former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, who was recruited by the CIA back in the mid-1980s using damaging information about drug trafficking.

In June of this year these organizations developed a Strategic Venezuela Plan focused on supporting Henrique Capriles as the de facto president from whom victory at the last presidential election had supposedly been «stolen». Under the slogan «We Are the Best Alternative», the Venezuelan opposition is to accomplish the goal of «returning true democracy to Venezuela», which lost it 14 years ago (through the fault of Chavez and his followers).

Everyday problems are needed by the conspirators to stimulate street protests, into which students, intellectuals, and other segments of the population are to be drawn. Active work is being done among the military with the aim of undermining the government’s authority within the army. Part of the conspirators’ Strategic Plan is encouraging the initiative of the military in «defending democratic freedoms» and preparing them for independent action amid crisis events and uncontrollable social conflicts. The plan also includes constant appeals to the media and cooperation with foreign journalists. The opposition is to advocate normalization of relations between Venezuela and the U.S. in order to neutralize the government’s allegations that Washington is interfering in the country’s internal affairs.

The actions of U.S. intelligence and the leaders of the Venezuelan opposition are not only coordinated through the operational center in Cucuta. The conspirators use CIA and DIA stations on Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire and in the Dominican Republic, Panama and other Central American countries to receive instructions. Bolivarian intelligence has recorded several meetings between Venezuelan opposition members and representatives of extremist groups from the Cuban immigrant community in Miami and the heads of Colombian paramilitary organizations (AUC); these groups will be used in the Strategic Venezuela Plan to start a fratricidal war.

According to the assessments of some analysts in Venezuela, Washington is not pleased that peace talks between the government of Colombia and the guerilla leadership of FARC really is leading to the end of fifty years of armed conflict; this makes the prospects of maintaining U.S. military bases on the territory of Colombia (or at least most of them) very doubtful. The Pentagon is concerned with finding backup options.

One such option for the relocation of the military bases could be Venezuela, if the opposition is able to bring the situation in the country to the point of armed clashes with law enforcement and bloodshed. Just such an outcome is called for by the Strategic Venezuela Plan. An indirect confirmation that U.S. intelligence is preparing for an abrupt worsening of the situation in this country is the reinforcement of American missions with personnel who have served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, etc. More and more frequently Americans engaged in journalistic activities near military sites such as air fields, ports, radar stations and command centers are being detained in Venezuela. The most recent incident was the arrest of Jim Wyss, a correspondent for the Miami Herald in Colombia, who was conducting a series of meetings with targets of Venezuelan counterintelligence in the city of San Cristobal.

It is the creation of conditions for direct military intervention in Venezuela and the coordination of the timeline that the opposition has been dealing with recently at secret meetings with «emissaries of Barack Obama». The U.S. president, whose image at home and abroad has been catastrophically damaged, is considering various emergency options which could at least partially rehabilitate him in the eyes of his countrymen. A «small, victorious war» in Venezuela, a country with a «dictatorial, almost Marxist regime», looks very tempting. The energy aspect of the hypothetical victory – the reestablishment of the dominant position of the U.S. in the Venezuelan oil sector – is always touched upon by American intelligence personnel during their contacts with the conspirators. It may be said with confidence that none of them would refuse the Americans such a service should they come to power.