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A letter by Chavez’s representative to the U.S.

By Gustavo Coronel

A letter (below) has been sent my Mr. Bernardo Alvarez, the Chavez’s envoy to the U.S., to Senator Dianne Feinstein, as an answer to the comments made about Venezuela by the National Security Director, Mr. Dennis Blair. The letter by Mr. Alvarez deserves a few comments from a Venezuelan citizen who knows what the Venezuelan reality is.

Alvarez. “As in years past, the report is full of politically motivated and cynical accusations against my country”. Readers will have either accept or reject this assertion by Mr. Alvarez, depending on the trust they have on the U.S. National Security Director. I find Mr. Blair’s comments on Venezuela quite objective and, if anything, rather benign in its assessment.

Alvarez. “Let me start by stating that Venezuela is a sovereign country that demands respect for its right to chart its own destiny”. Talking about cynicism, this is a very cynical statement by Mr. Alvarez. Although Venezuelans would like to be sovereign and to chart their own destiny, the reality is that today the Venezuelan government is deeply contaminated by a Castro Cuban invasion, present in highly sensitive Venezuelan bureaucratic levels: intelligence, documentation, police. A “hero” of the Cuban revolution, Mr. Ramiro Valdes, is currently in Venezuela, ostensibly serving as “electricity adviser” to the regime. As Mr. Valdes is no electricity expert but a master on political repression his activity in Venezuela is certain to be of a more sinister nature. There is no doubt that Venezuela is under a dictatorship, as defined by the lack of institutional checks and balances, persecution of dissenters, a one-man rule and a total lack of transparency and accountability in the management of national resources.

Alvarez. “The report states “President Chavez continues to impose an authoritarian populist political model in Venezuela that undermines democratic institutions.”

On the contrary, Venezuela is in the process of extending democracy to all of its people. This includes finding a balance between the state and the market that allows us toguarantee the welfare of our people and overcome the historical wrongs of poverty and inequality”. This statement is a lie. Venezuela is in the process of restricting, not extending democracy. The middle-class and large sectors of the poor are being excluded on political considerations. The nation is in political and economic chaos; electricity and water services are collapsing, the oil company is engaged in tasks different from their core business, the military are politicized, crime is rampant and food shortages are evident.

Alvarez. “Over the last decade, Venezuela’s ranking on the UN’s Human Development Index has risen by 10 spots, as levels of poverty have dropped and access to social services increased. In fact, political participation and consciousness in Venezuela have expanded dramatically over the last decade. These advances have occurred within what we call “Socialism of the 21st Century”, a democratic political process centered around fostering the well-being of our people as an alternative to the capitalist model currently in crisis”. Again, Mr. Alvarez lies audaciously. While it is true that the Venezuelan Human Development Index has increased in absolute terms, as it has happened in most of other countries in the middle level range of the HDI, the ranking of Venezuela has gone from position 48 in 1999, when Chavez arrived in power, to position 58 in 2008. What this means is that other countries are developing faster than Venezuela, without the need for a “socialism of the 21st Century”. The creator of this highly nebulous ideological doctrine, Mr. Heinz Dieterich, has just published an article to the effect that Chavez is bound for disaster since he has become more radical while the country lacks governance (see my blog www.lasarmasdecoronel.blogspot.com, for February 6, 2010).

Alvarez. “The report also states that Venezuela has “curtailed free expression and opposition activities by shutting down independent news outlets, harassing and detaining protestors, and threatening opposition leaders with criminal charges for corruption.” Venezuela has not shut down any independent media outlets, but rather has applied relevant laws and regulations to outlets operating in the country, just like any otherdemocracy”. In this respect the strategy of Mr. Chavez has been simple and brutal. He enacts a law or a regulation tailor-made to suit his political objectives and then applies it under the pretense that the victims are “breaking the law”. This has been the case in the closing of RCTV International, a cable station that did not broadcast Chavez’s political harangues. Chavez compulsory media hookups, called “cadenas”, amount to some 2000 hours of broadcasting during his 11 years in power. This is a Guinness record.

Alvarez. “Anti-government protestors continue enjoying their constitutional rights to peaceful assembly. Moreover, many members of the Venezuelan opposition travel freely around the world promoting their political agenda, including to the U.S., and return to Venezuela to exercise the political rights that the 1999 Constitution grants them”. Graphic records about the repression exercised by the Chavez’s National Guard are self-explanatory, including the presence in their hands of a medieval weapon called a “grappling hook”. The harassment of dissenters, both Venezuelan and foreign, when traveling out or into the country is also a matter of record. The rights of opposition leaders are systematically violated, as has been the well-documented case with dozens of popular candidates being “suspended” from running for office by the dishonest Attorney General, Mr. Clodosbaldo Russian.

Alvarez. “Venezuela only recently averted a financial crisis when it took steps to stop a number of banks from threatening the integrity of the country’s financial system. Two people charged in this case were very close to government officials. Both were detained and will stand trial for their crimes”. The truth is that these two persons, Mr. Arne Chacon and Mr. Ricardo Fernandez Berruecos, became instant millionaires (Chacon) and billionaires (Fernandez) under the Chavez regime, before Mr. Chavez’s very nose. In fact, they have been denounced for being members of mafias that include Chavez’s brother Adan, former vice-president Jose V. Rangel, Minister of Public Works Diosdado Cabello and other Chavez favorites. Prison for the two gentlemen mentioned by Mr. Alvarez was just a pre-emptive measure designed to protect the bigger fish.

Alvarez. “The report also claims that President Hugo Chavez, along with his counterparts in sister nations in the region, “are likely to oppose nearly every US policy initiative in the region, including the expansion of free trade, counter drug and counterterrorism cooperation, military training, and security initiatives, and even US assistance programs.” This is totally true. This is so well documented that no further support is necessary. Mr. Blair is right on the mark on this issue. Chavez has spent billions of our money and much effort in the creation of a global anti-U.S. alliance. He has not hidden this objective from anyone, except perhaps, from Mr. Alvarez.

This letter by Chavez’s envoy to the U.S. does not resist the slightest critical examination.

Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the United States

February 4, 2010

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Chair
Select Committee on Intelligence
United States Senate
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Feinstein,

I was disappointed to read the testimony of Mr. Dennis Blair, Director of National Intelligence, before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on the Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community. As in years past, the report is full of politically motivated and cynical accusations against my country.

Let me start by stating that Venezuela is a sovereign country that demands respect for its right to chart its own destiny. Unsubstantiated reports like the one presented by Mr. Blair to the committee you chair were used by the Bush administration to set the stage in the public opinion for the 2002 overthrow of President Hugo Chavez’s democratically elected government and to impose politically motivated sanctions against my country that are still in place. That same coup led Congress to investigate the role that U.S. agencies may have played in President Chavez’s overthrow.

I would like to use this opportunity to warn you and members of the committee that we are once again seeing attempts to criminalize our government and encourage sectors of the Venezuelan opposition that are looking for undemocratic ways to reach power.

The report states that “President Chavez continues to impose an authoritarian populist political model in Venezuela that undermines democratic institutions.”
On the contrary, Venezuela is in the process of extending democracy to all of its people. This includes finding a balance between the state and the market that allows us to guarantee the welfare of our people and overcome the historical wrongs of poverty and inequality.

Over the last decade, Venezuela’s ranking on the UN’s Human Development Index has risen by 10 spots, as levels of poverty have dropped and access to social services increased. In fact, political participation and consciousness in Venezuela have expanded dramatically over the last decade. These advances have occurred within what we call “Socialism of the 21st Century”, a democratic political process centered around fostering the well-being of our people as an alternative to the capitalist model currently in crisis.

The report also states that Venezuela has “curtailed free expression and opposition activities by shutting down independent news outlets, harassing and detaining protestors, and threatening opposition leaders with criminal charges for corruption.” Venezuela has not shut down any independent media outlets, but rather has applied relevant laws and regulations to outlets operating in the country, just like any other democracy. In Venezuela, more than 76 percent of the media on public airwaves is privately owned and operated, and most is controlled by the government’s political opposition. Additionally, more than 184 channels broadcast freely through cable networks.

Anti-government protestors continue enjoying their constitutional rights to peaceful assembly. Moreover, many members of the Venezuelan opposition travel freely around the world promoting their political agenda, including to the U.S., and return to Venezuela to exercise the political rights that the 1999 Constitution grants them.

Contrary to the assessments of the report, criminal charges have been filed against a variety of individuals for charges of corruption, regardless of their political affiliations. Venezuela only recently averted a financial crisis when it took steps to stop a number of banks from threatening the integrity of the country’s financial system. Two people charged in this case were very close to government officials. Both were detained and will stand trial for their crimes.

We cannot and will not allow corrupt criminals to hide behind the notion of “political persecution” to avoid facing justice in Venezuela. In that regard, we have recently solicited the cooperation of U.S. authorities to extradite one banker whom has fled Venezuela’s justice system and is currently living in the U.S. with money he stole from Venezuelan taxpayers. By granting some of these fugitives safe haven, the U.S. has politicized the sacred concept of political asylum. It is worth highlighting that over the past few years Venezuela has deported several criminals that were wanted by the U.S.

The report also claims that President Hugo Chavez, along with his counterparts in sister nations in the region, “are likely to oppose nearly every US policy initiative in the region, including the expansion of free trade, counter drug and counterterrorism cooperation, military training, and security initiatives, and even US assistance programs.”

Venezuela engages openly with its regional neighbors through a number of mechanisms, including the Bolivarian Alliance of the People of Our Americas (ALBA), the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), the South American Common Market (MERCOSUR) and a variety of energy initiatives such as PetroCaribe. These mechanisms allow the countries of the region to better cooperate on issues of mutual concern, particularly in developing strategies to overcome poverty. These alliances do not threaten the U.S. – in fact, a hemisphere more aggressively working together to fight social exclusion is more likely to be stable in the long-run.

On counter-terrorism, Venezuela seeks especially to attack the conditions that allow terrorism to grow, while on counter-drug operations Venezuela believes strongly in shared responsibility approaches that escape the failed military and supply-side based models. It bears mentioning that drug seizures in Venezuela increased by 38 percent after 2005, the year that we ended our cooperation with the DEA.

The U.S. will benefit if it develops a multilateral approach to these important issues and collaborates openly and equally with countries in the region. Of course, these cooperation must flow both ways – since 2005, Venezuela has been waiting for Luis Posada Carriles, a known terrorist living freely in South Florida, to be extradited to Venezuela for his role in the 1976 bombing of a civilian airliner. In the U.S., he has only been accused of lying to immigration officials. This is a travesty of justice.

After reading Mr. Blair’s report, one cannot help but wonder what a country like Venezuela has done to the U.S. to justify the cynicism and unsubstantiated accusations its government so irresponsibly lobs at us. The only answer seems to be that we have refused to “obey” hegemonic prescriptions and have decided to chart our own path towards full democracy and equitable development. We are only a “threat” to those that still see Latin America as part of the U.S.’s “backyard” instead of co-equal regional neighbors. Unfortunately, this report is just a carbon-copy of the Cold War mentality that for too long reigned over U.S. relations with the region, favoring dictatorships and allowing gross human right violations in the name of U.S. interests.

Let me reassure you that, contrary to Mr. Blair’s report, there is no “anti-Americanism” in the Government of Venezuela. However, we do reject imperial policies that dictate the kind of development and democracy we should seek. This is why we demand respect for and will defend our sovereignty at any cost.

The report issued by Mr. Blair reproduces the politicized and ideological intelligence script that has accompanied U.S. intervention in the affairs of sovereign nations in this hemisphere for decades. Such reports can be interpreted by some groups in the region as an invitation to explore anti-democratic means to achieve political ends. As Venezuela’s ambassador to the U.S., it is my responsibility to alert you and your colleagues in the Senate about our concerns with the intentions of such intelligence reports, which are full of half-truths and false accusations that hamper efforts for understanding among our two countries.

Respectfully,

Bernardo Alvarez Herrera
Ambassador

Cc:

Members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Senator John Kerry, Chair, Foreign Relations Committee, US Senate

Congressman Eliot Engel, Chair, Subcommittee for the Western Hemisphere,
US House of Representatives

Mr. Dennis C. Blair, Director of National Intelligence

Gustavo Coronel is a 28 years oil industry veteran, a member of the first board of directors (1975-1979) of Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), author of several books. At the present Coronel is Petroleumworld associate editor and advisor on the opinion and editorial content of the site. Petroleumworld does not necessarily share these views.

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