[News] Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) against Venezuela

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) against Venezuela

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/4296

March 15th 2009, by Eva Golinger - Axis of Logic

A secret document of the US Army National Ground 
Intelligence Center, recently declassified in 
part, through the application of the US Freedom 
of Information Act (FOIA), confirms that the 
Pentagon's most powerful team for psychological 
operations is employing its forces against 
Venezuela.1 The document, dating from the year 
2006, analyses the border situation between 
Colombia and Venezuela. It was drafted by the US 
Army's 4th Psychological Operations Group 
(Airborne) (4th PSYOP Group (A) or 4th POG) and 
the US Army National Ground Intelligence Center, 
a fact that thus reaffirms that the same 
psychological warfare team operates in the region against Venezuela.

The small part of the text of the secret document 
which was left uncensored explains how the Plan 
Patriot (previously known as Plan Colombia) has 
successfully pushed the activities of the 
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ((FARC), 
Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) into 
Venezuelan territory. It is explicitly being 
emphasized in the secret document that

"...the offensive operations of Plan Patriot and 
its counterparts of the Colombian military have 
had an important impact on the activities of the 
Eastern Bloc [of the FARC]...due to the success 
achieved against some fronts of the Eastern Bloc 
in Colombia, several fronts of the Eastern Bloc 
are conducting more combat and regenerated their 
activities at the Colombian-Venezuelan border. 
The Mini-Blocs in the Llanos and the eastern 
zone... have assumed distinct strategic roles in 
response to the Plan Patriot 2B..."

The arrival of the US Army's 4th Psychological 
Operations Group (Airborne) in Colombia in the 
year 2006 and the strategy of pushing the FARC 
and the Colombian civil conflict into Venezuelan 
territory cannot be taken as a coincidence; for 
it is exactly the moment when the US State 
Department and the Pentagon also started to 
publicly accuse Venezuela of collaborating with 
terrorism, specifically by referring to alleged 
dealings with the FARC. In the first semester of 
2006 Washington added Venezuela to a list of 
"countries that do not fully collaborate in the 
struggle against terrorism", and then imposed 
sanctions against the South American country that 
resulted in the prohibition of the sales of arms 
from the United States and from any international 
company that uses US technology. The 2006 report 
of the US State Department said,

"The Secretary of State certified Venezuela as 
"not fully cooperating" with U.S. antiterrorism 
efforts... It remained unclear to what extent the 
Government of Venezuela provided material support 
to Colombian terrorists, if it did, and on which 
level..." (Report of the US State Department of 
2006, available at <http://www.state.gov%292/>www.state.gov)2

A few months later, in July 2006, the United 
States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on 
International Terrorism and Nonproliferation, 
held a hearing titled "Venezuela: Terrorism Hub 
of South America?", in which they declared that

"Venezuela, under President Hugo Chavez, has 
tolerated terrorists on its soil and has forged 
close relationships with officially designated 
state sponsors of terrorism: Cuba, Iran and North 
Korea. Colombian terrorist groups use Venezuelan 
territory for safe haven...".3

At the same time, the international press started 
to promote a matrix of opinion, associating 
Venezuela with terrorism. Articles and editorials 
published by the Washington Post, the New York 
Times, the Washington Times, the Wall Street 
Journal, El País of Spain, El Tiempo of Bogota, 
and the Miami Herald, amongst others, repeated 
time and again [affirmations about] the alleged 
link between the Venezuelan government and the 
FARC in Colombia, although they never provided 
any conclusive proof. All the evidences were 
based on "anonymous" sources, "high-level 
officials in Washington", and "analysts", without 
giving any concrete names, data or facts.

THE PROPAGANDA WARRIORS
The US Army's 4th Psychological Operations Group 
(Airborne) is the only active psychological 
operations unit.4  It comprises 1.300 officials 
and constitutes 26% of all US Army psychological 
operation units, the remaining 74% consist of 
reservists. By the year 2011, it is foreseen that 
the unit would eventually grow to approximately 
2.300 troops who are experts in psychological 
operations. The official mission of the 4th 
Psychological Operations Group (Airborne) is to 
deploy anywhere in the world on short notice to 
plan, develop and conduct psychological 
operations and "Civil Affairs" (in other words, 
subversion) in support of coalition forces and 
Washington's government agencies.

The personnel of the 4th Group include regional 
experts and linguists who have a profound 
understanding of the political, cultural, ethnic, 
and religious subtleties of the target audience. 
They are also experts in technical areas such as 
journalism, radio operations, graphic design, 
newspaper business, illustration, and long-range tactical communications.

In 2003, the 4th Psychological Operations Group 
(Airborne) of the US Army inaugurated an 
installation for media operations of the Special 
Operations Forces (SOP) at a cost of US$ 8.1 
million. Said installation is known as the 
Pentagon's production center for all its 
psychological operations and their "products", 
like flyers, pamphlets, posters, and segments for 
television and radio transmission that are all 
aimed at persuading and winning the minds and 
hearts of those who the Pentagon wants to attack. 
For example, more than 150 million flyers and 
pamphlets - all produced and printed in the 
installation of the Group 4th Psychological 
Operations Group (Airborne) - have been 
disseminated throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. 
Colonel James Treadwell, Commander of the 4th 
Group, emphasized that more than 16.000 hours of 
messages for radio transmission were produced by 
his group and transmitted in Afghanistan and more 
than 4.000 in Iraq. The printer's in the new 
installation has a capacity to print more than 1 million pamphlets per day.

The psychological operations troops study 
techniques in "marketing" and publicity before 
they design their "products". They also analyze 
in detail their impact and results. They are 
complete experts in propaganda and in the best 
ways to exert influence on public opinion so as 
to promote their agenda. In 2005, said unit of 
"propaganda warriors" was expanded through the 
foundation of the Joint Psychological Operations 
Support Element (JPOSE), with Colonel Treadwell 
being in command of the entire joint team. 
Transferred from Iraq to the headquarters of 
JPOSE in Tampa, Florida, Colonel Treadwell began 
to focus his propaganda activities towards the 
South. In press statements Treadwell confirmed 
that his new elite team for psychological 
operations would direct a part of the work to 
Bolivia and Venezuela. A little later, a contract 
(worth up to US$ 100 million) was awarded to the 
company, Science Applications International 
Corporation (SAIC) to help design the "campaigns" 
of psychological operations together with JPOSE. 
Two other companies, Lincoln Group and SYColeman, 
also received similar contracts financed through 
the team's budget, a budget that surpasses US$ 8 billion per year.

 From these companies, SAIC has a pretty dirty 
past history in Venezuela. It was the company 
that, together with PDVSA, the state owned 
petroleum industry, constructed a mixed company 
named INTESA that began to automate the petroleum 
industry in Venezuela in 1995. And INTESA was the 
same company that executed one of the most brutal 
sabotage acts against the Venezuelan industry at 
the end of the year 2002, with the intention to 
force President Hugo Chávez out of power. The 
company was used as a platform to attack the 
"brains of PDVSA" by destroying its entire 
data-base and automated systems and converting it 
again into a manually operating company. Their 
actions caused billions of dollars of damage to 
the Venezuelan economy and its international 
reputation as a secure petroleum provider and 
producer. Nevertheless, they did not reach their 
objective to topple President Chávez, and little 
later INTESA was closed and forced to cease their 
operations in the country. Three years later, 
their new contracts appeared - to carry out 
psychological operations against the same 
government they previously had tried to neutralize without success.

Since the United States' most powerful team of 
psychological operations is working actively 
against Venezuela, the fruits of their work have 
been seen both on an international level and also 
within the country on a national 
level.5  President Chávez is already classified 
as "dictator" in international public opinion and 
there are few who would doubt his alleged 
"dealings" with the FARC in Colombia - despite 
the fact that there was never a single proof 
offered that would confirm such "dealings".

Psychological operations are considered by the 
Pentagon to be their "most powerful weapon" to 
date. Through screens, broadcasting stations, 
newspapers, posters, design of clothes and 
objects, they transmit their purposeful and well 
planned message to subtly exert influence on 
public opinion and perceptions about topics of 
interest. It is the new battlefield where all of 
us are forced to assume a role, because nobody 
escapes from information and communication in 
today's world. It is the struggle for truth and 
justice against lies and manipulation. The 
decision to be either victim or combatant within 
that asymmetric war is in the hands of each of us. Don't be fooled.

Translator's notes:
    * T.n.: For groundbreaking evidence on the 
extent to which the Bush administration illegally 
aided the opposition, influenced the Venezuelan 
military, and directly and indirectly supported 
the coup of April 2002, see Eva Golinger's 
outstanding investigation: The Chávez Code: 
Cracking U.S. Intervention in Venezuela. Havana, 
Cuban Book Institute, 2005. 
<http://www.venezuelafoia.info/english.html>Available 
also in Spanish, Italian, and German language.
    * T.n.: see 
<http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2006/82735.htm>http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/2006/82735.htm 

    * T.n.: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on 
International Terrorism and Proliferation. 2006. 
VENEZUELA: TERRORISM HUB OF SOUTH AMERICA? 
Document available at 
<http://www.ciponline.org/nationalsecurity/Resources/news/hearing071306.htm>The 
Center for International Policy's National Security Program
    * T.n.: Concerning the information resumed in 
this and the following paragraph, and for further 
details please see 
<http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/4psyopgp.htm>Global 
Security
    * T.n.: In this context we highly recommend 
to our Spanish-speaking readers the excellent 
documentary 
"<http://www.vtv.gov.ve/videos-emisiones-anteriores/12046>Enjambre" 
(a Guarataro Films & Venezolana de Televisión 
Production) that analyses the Networking 
doctrine, the concept of Fourth Generation 
Warfare and its application in Venezuela. While 
we continue making every effort to help provide 
an English version of this documentary, here's 
our translation of the 
<http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=77242>brief 
summary provided originally by Rebelión in Spanish language:

[...] Introduction: The concepts "Fourth Generation Warfare" and "Networking".

Past History: Parallels between the 2002 coup 
d'état in Venezuela and the coup against Allende.

Networking in Venezuela: How Fourth Generation 
Warfare works in Venezuela. The opposition's 
change in strategy. By 2006-2007, the opposition 
focuses on the exploitation and manipulation of 
social and political problems. New political 
actors appear. Media Warfare and Psychological 
Operations. Assassination. Declarations of 
journalists about Chávez' death or assassination. 
TV-series about the assassination of Chávez or a 
[military] invasion in Venezuela. Parallels to 
the Chilean case. Plan shattered in Venezuela.

Military encirclement: Plan Colombia, Plan 
Balboa, Paramilitaries and US military bases.

Resistance: Examples of resistance struggles. 
Vietnam, Cuba, and Middle East. Asymmetrical 
warfare and the reserves or militia. 
Civilian-military union. April 13th. [...]



----------
Original Source in Spanish: 
<http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=81736&titular=operaciones-psicol%F3gicas-contra-venezuela:-washington-y-su-guerra-contra-la-revoluci%F3n-bolivariana->Rebelión 
- Operaciones psicológicas contra Venezuela: 
Washington y su guerra contra la revolución 
bolivariana; published on March 5th, 2009.

© Translation Copyright 2009 by AxisofLogic.com

This article has been translated from Spanish 
into English by Iris Buehler and revised by Les 
Blough, who are members of 
<http://www.tlaxcala.es/>Tlaxcala, the network of 
translators for linguistic diversity. Both reside 
in Venezuela. This material is available for 
republication as long as reprints include 
verbatim copy of the article in its entirety, 
respecting its integrity. Reprints must cite the 
author, the translator & reviser and Axis of 
Logic as the original source including a 
"<http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_29828.shtml>live 
link" to the article. Thank you!

Read 
<http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Golinger.shtml>her 
biography and contact the author: <mailto:evagolinger at hotmail.com>Eva Golinger

Contact the Translator: 
<http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/iris@aktionspotenzial.de>Iris Buehler




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20090317/0255c05d/attachment.htm>