IDs easily bought in Venezuela could aid terrorists, U.S. fears

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Sat, Mar. 27, 2004

WAR ON TERRORISM | VENEZUELA


IDs easily bought in Venezuela could aid terrorists, U.S. fears

U.S. officials worry that Venezuela's trade in fake identification documents could help terrorists and other criminals hide their identities.

BY ALFONSO CHARDY

[e-mail]


CARACAS - Julián runs a small office supply shop in downtown Caracas, but his main income comes from the dilapidated government immigration offices nearby.

Julián readily admits that he moonlights as a purveyor of fraudulent Venezuelan passports and national identity cards, and an expediter of real ones.
(snip)

In the post-Sept. 11 era, Venezuela's trade in false documents has alarmed U.S. officials, in light of allegations that leftist President Hugo Chávez's government has issued fake IDs to leftist guerrillas in neighboring Colombia, Arabs with suspicious backgrounds and Cuban intelligence agents.
(snip)

But the trade has been going on for decades, mainly linked to corrupt employees in the immigration department, known by its Spanish acronym DIEX, and apparently has not increased significantly under Chávez, The Herald also found. Chávez has denied the allegations.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/8289277.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Again, nice try, _Bush State Department.

[arcos]

1. This is bullshit!!!

In most places in Latin America (and I guess in most developing countries) it is fairly easy to get a fake ID or passport... they are just making up excuses against Chávez (and I'm not a big fan of him).

[unblock]

2. lol! then invade the local wendy's

you can get great fake id's, talk to the dude in the back of the wendy's.

we should invade so fake id's will only be available at fast food joints and bus stations.

[izzie]

3. Who runs all this stuff into other countries?

We seem to be into the govt in every country around the world. Are we really thinking we can boss the world?

[tkmorris]

4. LOL, this is ridiculous

False documents from Venezuela are a particular concern?

Unlike those false documents from neighboring Guyana, Colombia, Suriname, and Brazil I suppose. No, those Venezuelans, they have false documents down to a science!

For $50 US I can buy documents anywhere in South America that say I am whoever I want to be, from wherever I like. Documents good enough to fake my way into the US. They gotta be kidding with this Venezuela nonsense.

Then again, the Miami Herald IS the official newspaper of the Cuban expatriates.

[bushisanidiot]

5. Oh, and coincidentally they have a SHITLOAD of oil..

hmmmmm..

Venezuela is being set up for an (oil) invasion pending AWOL's rigged election..

[Mika]

6. Miami's Ven. and Cuban "exiles" make better fakes

Much more practice and state of the art tools (on our tax dime).


Our fakes are better than their fakes.

---

... because our Bonesman is better than their Bonesman

[0007]

7. Interesting information!!

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((BONG)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))


It ain't that good

[NNN0LHI]

8. What country would this not be the case in?

We know it is widespread here in the USA. WTF?

Don

[NashVegas]

9. I Hear His Best Clients

Are CIA :)

[amazona]

10. this is silly, much better illegal ID sold in Houston

I've seen it, and it is impressive. Can Caracas do holograms? Don't think I'll lose much sleep over this one.

[bemildred]

12. The CIA is trying to protect it's monopoly in quality fake IDs. nt

[IndianaGreen]

11. Using "war on terrorism" in the same sentence as Venezuela is a clue

that the article is part of the propaganda campaign by the rightwingers and their allies at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) to destabilize the democratically elected government of President Hugo Chavez.

It is unfortunate that even some Democrats are carrying the torch for the Venezuelan oligarchs, as the following Common Dreams article illustrates:

Published on Friday, March 26, 2004 by CommonDreams.org
Why John Kerry Must Retract his Position on Venezuela
by VenezuelAnalysis.com

It is almost unexplainable that Kerry, as a Democrat, maintains almost the same positions as Bush and his ultra-conservative cabinet. Many in the progressive community had hoped that Kerry could bring a fundamental change to the foreign policies implemented by Bush towards Latin America. Statements such as this lead us to believe that there may be little change in the arrogant US government foreign policy, and unfortunately, mistrust and resentment towards the United States in Latin America would probably continue to grow as a result.

Without offering any evidence, Kerry, follows the line of the Venezuelan opposition, accusing Chavez of aiding the Colombian guerrilla forces, permitting narcotrafficking, undermining democratic institutions, attempting to impede a possible recall referendum on his mandate, and of implementing policies that are detrimental to US interests.

Chavez is a President who has been elected twice by clear majorities in democratic elections, and who, at this time, still enjoys one of the highest levels of popularity amongst Latin American leaders. Chavez's policies have earned him the support of millions of progressive and liberal voices throughout Latin America as well as in North America.

Kerry's recent statement makes it clear that he has taken the side of the Venezuelan opposition, an opposition which is unequivocally responsible for the political instability in Venezuela due to its failure and refusal to accept Chavez as the President of Venezuela, despite his clear support by a majority of Venezuelans proven through numerous electoral victories.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0326-01.htm