Arrogant US Amb to Venezuela Shapiro says its not a crime to kill a Presid

[UpInArms]

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=11205

In an Associated Press (AP) dispatch the United States government has said it will open up an investigation into allegations made by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez Frias relative to conspiracy to assassinate him. Chavez Frias has said that "terrorist groups" in southern Florida have allied with Miami-based anti-Castro radicals.

Amazingly US Ambassador to Venezuela, Charles S. Shapiro says "it is not necessarily a crime ... but we are in the full process of collecting information and we must follow all legal procedures ... if there is anyone to blame, our government knows what to do!"

With typical Washington cover-up rhetoric, Shapiro shakily admits that he has received information that "some Venezuelans have been receiving military training in the United States." He further admits that the information was also published in a Miami newspaper a year ago ... but remains remarkably silent as to why no action was taken by proper authorities Stateside. "We're not going to take action against anybody ... we haven't been able to make any headway!"

...more...

guess this criminal crew will keep acting in such a blatant fashion until they're all behind bars.

[Brucey]

1. Nixon said something like this:

Since I'm the president, if I do something, it is automatically legal... it can't be a crime if the president does it. The comparisons of chimpy to the big crook are looking more and more eerie.

[DoctorMyEyes]

2. Chavez is smart

and was one step ahead of the US last year on the attempted coup.

He made us look like fools, has dropped the US dollar and opted to use the euro for the Venezuelan "petro dollar". The US is not going to leave him in power.

Thanks for posting this. I try to keep track of what we're doing there, but it's often back page stuff (if it even makes back page)

[UpInArms]

3. I, too, try to keep an eye on our

dirty dealings regarding Chavez - it really is a sore spot for * and his minions.

[bemildred]

4. Dang, Shapiro sounds rattled.

:thumbsup:

[JohnyCanuck]

5. More on Venezuelan media from the Toronto Star's Antonia Zerbisias

The poor of Venezuela, the vast majority of the population, love Chavez because he is bringing them not only democracy, but also a chance to access the country's vast natural wealth. For example, as last Sunday's Star revealed, Chavez's land reform laws, which are redistributing 2 million hectares of idle, state-owned property to poor families, are upsetting the wealthy élite who, as in many Latin American states, have long exploited the campesinos. And so they are exercising their economic might to bring Chavez down.

Well, they don't say information is power for nothing. Venezuela's wealthy anti-Chavez class owns the five largest television stations and nine of the 10 major national newspapers. And time and time again in the last few years, particularly in April, 2002, when Chavez's opposition staged a coup against him and again last winter when there was a 64-day oil strike and business lockout, the private media have gone on the attack, in ways that make the U.S. feeding frenzy on the Bill Clinton thong-gate look like a Victorian ladies' tea.

<snip>

The thing about the Venezuelan media is, they often feed the international media. Never do they tell you that the infant mortality rate under Chavez has plummeted or that school enrolment has soared. It's all doom and gloom, linked to the "leftist" Chavez. Just last week for instance, Reuters relied on "local television'' images to report how Chavez forces were terrorizing oil company workers. But having seen Inside The Coup's dissection of the Venezuelan media, I had to discount the story.

Venezuelan News Media Dissected


If you get a chance to see the CBC Newsworld production "Inside the Coup" mentioned in the article do so. It was made up of video shot in and around the Presidential offices and the streets of Caracas at the time of the coup. It's almost like watching a TV thriller as the Generals take over and Chavez is sent off to prison after refusing to resign. Then his palace guard successfully stages a counter-coup and regain control of the presidential offices for the Chavez supporters.

In the midst of it all as things start going bad for the coup plotters, the commercial TV stations in Venezuela refused to anounce that the presidential guard had regained control of the government offices and that the former government's ministers were coming out of hiding to resume running the government. Once the Chavez supporter took over the one governmnent owned TV station and overcame some technical problems to get it back on the air, they were able to tell the country that they were in control again in Caracas and the coup rapidly disintegrated.

It was touch and go for a while, as there was a real worry that if the Chavez supporters didn't know that the Chavez loyalists had taken control again of the government offices, the coup plotters would have time to stage a counter attack. Once the word went out over the airwaves that the Chavez loyalists were in control in the Presidential Palace, the pro-Chavez crowds took to the streets by the thousands to show their support and junior officers and enlisted men from the Venezuelan military started calling in from various military bases by phone to anounce their loyalty to Chavez.

The documentary ends with Chavez being flown in by helicopter from the island where he was held prisoner and he is welcomed by the cheering of thousands of supporters. It's a very powerful and moving documentary. It would surprise me very much, if the coup plotters have called it a day and are not cooking something up right now in a second attempt to unseat the thorn in their side.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Charles Shapiro is a loathesome, horrid "man"

They had to shop in really low places to find a person to behave like this:

(snip) In Caracas, a congressman has accused the US ambassador to Venezuela, Charles Shapiro, and two US embassy military attaches of involvement in the coup.

Roger Rondon claimed that the military officers, whom he named as (James) Rogers and (Ronald) MacCammon, had been at the Fuerte Tiuna military headquarters with the coup leaders during the night of April 11-12.

And referring to Mr Shapiro, Mr Rondon said: "We saw him leaving Miraflores palace, all smiles and embraces, with the dictator Pedro Carmona Estanga ... satisfaction was obvious. Shapiro's participation in the coup d'état in Venezuela is evident." (snip/...)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,12716,858074,00.html

The administration is truly smug about this, it would appear. I hope something steps in to prevent their killing Chavez, and stealing the government.