[Marxism] US accuses Venezuela of secretly funding Argentine president's campaign

["Stuart Munckton" <stuartmunckton@xxxxxxxxx>]

[Of course, the US funds the opposition in Venezuela, as has been well
established.]

US accuses Venezuela of secret election funding


Rory Carroll in Caracas
Friday December 14, 2007
The Guardian

Prosecutors in the US have accused Venezuela of secretly funding the
election campaign of Argentina's newly inaugurated president, Cristina
Kirchner. The claim ignited a political row between the three
countries.

The prosecutors told a Miami court on Wednesday that a suitcase filled
with nearly $800,000 (£392,000) intercepted at Buenos Aires airport
was a payment from the government of President Hugo Chávez. Venezuela
and Argentina rejected the allegation as a politically motivated
smear.

Kirchner, thrown on the defensive on her first week in the job, said
it was an example of "garbage in international politics" and that the
US wanted to "subordinate" other nations. "This president may be a
woman but she's not going to allow herself to be pressured."

The row revives suspicions that Chávez has used Venezuela's oil
revenues to sponsor allies to try to forge a Latin American front
against the US, which he terms "the empire". If the charges stick they
will taint Venezuela and erode the credibility of Argentina's first
elected female head of state. Both governments said it was an attempt
to drive a wedge between Chávez and the rest of the region.

Venezuela's foreign minister, Nicolás Maduro, said it was a fabricated
scandal. "It is a desperate effort by the US government using the
judicial branch for a political, psychological, media war against the
progressive governments of the continent."

Three Venezuelans and a Uruguayan are charged with failing to register
with the US as agents of a foreign power. All were arrested on Tuesday
night.

-- 
"The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind
of dummy?" - Jarvis Cocker

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