State Department's Sanitized Version of U.S. Effort to Topple Chavez

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Posted on Sat, Aug. 03, 2002
Miami Herald
A clear U.S. policy in Venezuela

VERBATIM

Following are excerpts from this week's report of the State
Department Office of Inspector General's investigation into
U.S. policy during the attempted coup in Venezuela.

T hroughout the course of the weekend of April 12-14, [the
U.S.] Embassy in Caracas and the [State] Department worked
to support democracy and constitutionality in Venezuela.

Based on credible reports that (a) pro-Chávez supporters had
fired on a huge crowd of peaceful Chávez opponents, killing
some and wounding others; (b) the Chávez government had
attempted to keep the media from reporting on these
developments; and, bowing to the pressures, (c) Chávez had
fired his vice president and cabinet and then resigned, the
department criticized the Chávez government for using
violent means to suppress peaceful demonstrators and for
interfering with the press.

Both the department and the embassy worked behind the scenes
to persuade the interim government to hold early elections
and to legitimize its provisional rule by obtaining the
sanction of the National Assembly and the Supreme Court.
When, contrary to U.S. advice, the interim government
dissolved the assembly and the court and took other
undemocratic actions, the department worked through the
Organization of American States to condemn those steps and
to restore democracy and constitutionality in Venezuela. . .
.

The policy of the United States toward Venezuela during the
operative period was support for democracy and
constitutionality. The department and the embassy urged the
Chávez government to conduct itself in a democratic and
constitutional fashion . . . and urged opponents of the
Chávez government to act within the limits of the
constitution of Venezuela. This policy was expressed orally
in numerous meetings and occasional speeches and press
statements throughout the period. The policy was fully
consistent with the Inter-American Democratic Charter, the
OAS agreement designed to promote democracy and
constitutionality in the Americas. . . .

[Did] Chávez opponents [seek] help from the embassy or the
Department for removing or undermining the Chávez government
through undemocratic or unconstitutional means? The answer
is No. Chávez opponents would instead inform their U.S.
interlocutors of their (or, more frequently, others') aims,
intentions and/or plans. U.S. officials consistently
responded to such declarations with statements opposing any
effort to remove or undermine the Chávez government through
undemocratic and unconstitutional means. These responses
were conveyed orally. . . .

The Office of Inspector General found nothing to indicate
that U.S. assistance programs in Venezuela, including those
funded by the National Endowment for Democracy, were
inconsistent with U.S. law or policy. While it is clear that
NED, Department of Defense and other U.S. assistance
programs provided training, institution building and other
support to individuals and organizations understood to be
actively involved in the brief ouster of the Chávez
government, we found no evidence that this support directly
contributed, or was intended to contribute, to that event.



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