HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
AFP. 20 April 2002. Investigation of Venezuelan coup finds plotters believed US had a role. CARACAS -- Some Venezuelan military officers who participated in a coup against President Hugo Chavez believed they had a green light from Washington and withdrew their support after consulting US officials, a source close to an official investigation of the coup said Saturday. The source, who declined to be identified, said the investigation has shed light on the events surrounding the April 12 ouster of Chavez and his return to power two days later. [N.B.] The source said US Army Lieutenant Colonel James Rodgers, an aide to the US military attache "was present on the fifth floor of the military command" before Chavez was brought to that installation, Fort Tiuna in Caracas, and remained there until until the self-proclaimed provisional government fell apart. Some Venezuelan military officers interpreted Rodgers' presence as a green light from Washington to unseat Chavez, the source said. "In the course of the investigation, several Venezuelan officers implicated in the coup mentioned the presence of the US soldier," the source said. "They were assured that the movement had the full support of the United States and that was why they participated." US officials have worked to dispel persistent reports that Washington knew of the coup through its contacts with the Venezuelan opposition, but have been burdened by a failure to explicitly reject the provisional government and a history of US support for military regimes in Latin America. "This is going to cost to the United States, because it has lost a certain moral and political credibility in the continent, and (it) also makes relations with Venezuela difficult," said Arturo Valenzuela, a former Bill Clinton White House official and current director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
