[News] Venezuelan Government Denounces the Presence of Opposition “Mercenaries”

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  Venezuelan Government Denounces the Presence of Opposition “Mercenaries”

<http://venezuelanalysis.com/printmail/8530>http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/8530
<http://venezuelanalysis.com/print/8530>

By Chris Carlson

Punto Fijo, April 7^th , 2013 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan 
government officials released a recorded conversation on Saturday that 
allegedly reveals the use of “mercenaries” by the Venezuelan opposition 
to create chaos in the lead up to elections next Sunday.

Interim President Nicolas Maduro made the announcement at a campaign 
event on Saturday, assuring that the group of “mercenaries” were already 
in Venezuela, and are seeking to carry out three objectives before next 
week’s elections: sabotage the electrical grid, increase the number of 
murders in the country, and assassinate Maduro.

“From Central America we have gotten information that a group of 
mercenaries has entered the country, with coordination from the Central 
American right-wing and some sectors linked to the opposition 
candidate,” he said.

Maduro said that US officials Roger Noriega and Otto Reich were behind 
the plan, together with right-wing sectors from El Salvador and 
Venezuela, and had paid the “mercenaries” to kill him.

“They want to kill me because they know they cannot win the elections on 
April 14^th ,” he said.

Shortly after Maduro made the accusation, Foreign Minister Elias Jaua 
appeared on news channel Telesur to give more details.

“Through our intelligence agencies, we have recorded conversations among 
right-wing groups where they discuss using Central American mercenaries 
to carry out destabilization plans in the country,” he said.

Jaua explained that the groups involved are led by a retired colonel of 
the Venezuelan armed forces, David Koch Arana, who is allegedly linked 
to Cuban terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, and the operation is 
coordinated by Salvadoran right-wing politician Roberto d’Aubuisson.

In a recorded conversation between d’Aubuisson and Koch Arana, vague 
plans are discussed to engage in activities inside Venezuela, and the 
conversation would also seem to implicate the Capriles campaign in the 
plans.

Jaua read a portion of the dialogue that allegedly took place between 
the two individuals, which went as follows:

*Roberto d’Aubuisson:* “How are things going down south? You haven’t 
given me the reports…. Are the reports we are sending you useful?”

*David Koch Arana:* “I have the reports, but I haven’t sent them to you 
yet… Supposedly they have informed the Venezuelan government that there 
are foreigners interfering in the political situation. Capriles has 
managed to find safe places so that our people can chill. The team 
already arrived and they are working together. One group is already 
working in the streets to disorient the vote.”

*Roberto d’Aubuisson:* “Did you tell them that it should be like we 
worked in the campaign here? Just be careful. Remember that they have 
offered their support if they win, and that would be good for us. I 
don’t know how the other groups that we sent from here are working, but 
I hope they don’t clash with each other or have conflicts, because they 
don’t know each other. I will talk to them to see how we should organize 
the operations there.

Jaua said that the full audio of the conversation would be made publicly 
available in the coming days.

He also assured that they were taking immediate action to find and 
neutralize the alleged “mercenaries”, and that intelligence forces had 
been deployed around the country.

“We want to tell the Venezuelan people that they can remain calm. State 
security forces are after these groups and we hope to identify and 
neutralize them in the coming days so we can prevent them from 
generating any turmoil,” he said.

According to Jaua, the plan is part of a larger strategy by the 
Venezuelan opposition to destabilize the electoral process as a way to 
delay next week’s elections.

“Remember that just a few days ago some opposition spokespersons 
suggested to the National Electoral Council (CNE) that the elections 
should be postponed, because they know that they can’t win on April 
14^th , so they are trying to buy time,” he said.

Nicolas Maduro also claimed to have evidence of a meeting between a US 
official and a member of opposition political party Primero Justicia in 
which they discussed causing blackouts in the eastern state of Bolivar, 
however further details were not provided.

The Capriles campaign has not commented or responded to any of the 
allegations.

-- 
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