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<h2><b>CIA Operation "Pliers" Uncovered in Venezuela
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<a href="http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/print/2914" eudora="autourl">
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/print/2914<br><br>
</a>November 28th 2007, by Eva Golinger <br>
<img src="http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/files/imagecache/medium/files/images/2007/11/chvezcnn_portada.jpg" width=200 height=120 alt="[]">
<br>
Last night CNN en Español aired the above image, which captions at the
bottom "Who Killed him?" by "accident". The image of
President Chavez with the caption about killing him below, which some
could say subliminally incites to assassination, was a "production
error" mistakenly made in the CNN en Español newsroom. The news
anchor had been narrarating a story about the situation between Colombia
and Venezuela and then switched to a story about an unsolved homicide but
- oops - someone forgot to change the screen image and President Chavez
was left with the killing statement below. Today they apologized and
admitted it was a rather "unfortunate" and
"regrettable" mistake. Yes, it was.<br><br>
On a scarier note, an internal CIA memorandum has been obtained by
Venezuelan counterintelligence from the US Embassy in Caracas that
reveals a very sinister - almost fantastical, were it not true - plan to
destabilize Venezuela during the coming days. The plan, titled
"OPERATION PLIERS" was authored by CIA Officer Michael
Middleton Steere and was addressed to CIA Director General Michael Hayden
in Washington. Steere is stationed at the US Embassy in Caracas under the
guise of a Regional Affairs Officer. The internal memorandum, dated
November 20, 2007, references the "Advances of the Final Stage of
Operation Pliers", and confirms that the operation is coordinated by
the team of Human Intelligence (HUMINT) in Venezuela. The memo summarizes
the different scenarios that the CIA has been working on in Venezuela for
the upcoming referendum vote on December 2nd. The Electoral Scenario, as
it's phrased, confirms that the voting tendencies will not change
substantially before Sunday, December 2nd, and that the SI (YES) vote in
favor of the constitutional reform has an advantage of about 10-13 points
over the NO vote. The CIA estimates abstention around 60% and states in
the memo that this voting tendency is irreversible before the
elections.<br><br>
Officer Steere emphasizes the importance and success of the public
relations and propaganda campaign that the CIA has been funding with more
than $8 million during the past month - funds that the CIA confirms are
transfered through the USAID contracted company, Development
Alternatives, Inc., which set up operations in June 2002 to run the USAID
Office for Transition Initiatives that funds and advises opposition NGOs
and political parties in Venezuela. The CIA memo specifically refers to
these propaganda initiatives as "psychological operations"
(PSYOPS), that include contracting polling companies to create fraudulent
polls that show the NO vote with an advantage over the SI vote, which is
false. The CIA also confirms in the memo that it is working with
international press agencies to distort the data and information about
the referendum, and that it coordinates in Venezuela with a team of
journalists and media organized and directed by the President of
Globovision, Alberto Federico Ravell. <br><br>
CIA Officer Michael Steere recommends to General Michael Hayden two
different strategies to work simultaneously: Impede the referendum and
refuse to recognize the results once the SI vote wins. Though these
strategies appear contradictory, Steere claims that they must be
implemented together precisely to encourage activities that aim toward
impeding the referendum and at the same time prepare the conditions for a
rejection of the results. <br><br>
How is this to be done?<br><br>
In the memo, the CIA proposes the following tactics and actions:
<ul>
<li>Take the streets and protest with violent, disruptive actions across
the nation
<li>Generate a climate of ungovernability
<li>Provoke a general uprising in a substantial part of the population
<li>Engage in a "plan to implode" the voting centers on
election day by encouraging opposition voters to "VOTE and
REMAIN" in their centers to agitate others
<li>Start to release data during the early hours of the afternoon on
Sunday that favor the NO vote (in clear violation of election
regulations)
<li>Coordinate these activities with Ravell & Globovision and
international press agencies
<li>Coordinate with ex-militar officers and coupsters Pena Esclusa and
Guyon Cellis - this will be done by the Military Attache for Defense and
Army at the US Embassy in Caracas, Office of Defense, Attack and
Operations (DAO)
</ul>To encourage rejection of the results, the CIA proposes:
<ul>
<li>Creating an acceptance in the public opinion that the NO vote will
win for sure
<li>Using polling companies contracted by the CIA
<li>Criticize and discredit the National Elections Council
<li>Generate a sensation of fraud
<li>Use a team of experts from the universities that will talk about how
the data from the Electoral Registry has been manipulated and will build
distrust in the voting system
</ul>The CIA memo also talks about:
<ul>
<li>Isolating Chavez in the international community
<li>Trying to achieve unity amongst the opposition
<li>Seek an aliance between those abstentionists and those who will vote
"NO"
<li>Sustain firmly the propaganda against Chavez
<li>Execute military actions to support the opposition mobilizations and
propagandistic occupations
<li>Finalize the operative preparations on the US military bases in
Curacao and Colombia to provide support to actions in Venezuela
<li>Control a part of the country during the next 72-120 hours
<li>Encourage a military rebellion inside the National Guard forces and
other components
</ul>Those involved in these actions as detailed in the CIA memo are:
<ul>
<li>The CIA Office in Venezuela - Office of Regional Affairs, and Officer
Michael Steere
<li>US Embassy in Venezuela, Ambassador Patrick Duddy
<li>Office of Defense, Attack and Operations (DAO) at the US Embassy in
Caracas and Military Attache Richard Nazario
</ul>Venezuelan Political Parties:
<ul>
<li>Comando Nacional de la Resistencia
<li>Accion Democratica
<li>Primero Justicia
<li>Bandera Roja
</ul>Media:
<ul>
<li>Alberto Federico Ravell & Globovision
<li>Interamerican Press Society (IAPA) or SIP in Spanish
<li>International Press Agencies
</ul>Venezuelans:
<ul>
<li>Pena Esclusa
<li>Guyon Cellis
<li>Dean of the Simon Bolivar University, Rudolph Benjamin Podolski
<li>Dean of the Andres Bello Catholic University, Ugalde
<li>Students: Yon Goicochea, Juan Mejias, Ronel Gaglio, Gabriel Gallo,
Ricardo Sanchez
</ul><br>
Operation Tenaza has the objective of encouraging an armed insurrection
in Venezuela against the government of President Chavez that will justify
an intervention of US forces, stationed on the military bases nearby in
Curacao and Colombia. The Operation mentions two countries in code: as
Blue and Green. These refer to Curacao and Colombia, where the US has
operative, active and equipped bases that have been reinforced over the
past year and a half in anticipation of a conflict with
Venezuela.<br><br>
The document confirms that psychological operations are the CIA's best
and most effective weapon to date against Venezuela, and it will continue
its efforts to influence international public opinion regarding President
Chavez and the situation in the country.<br><br>
Operation Tenaza is a very alarming plan that aims to destabilize
Venezuela and overthrow (again) its legitimate and democratic (and very
popularly support) president. The plan will fail, primarily because it
has been discovered, but it must be denounced around the world as an
unacceptable violation of Venezuela's sovereignty.<br><br>
The original document in English will be available in the public sphere
soon for viewing and authenticating purposes. And it also contains more
information than has been revealed here. <br><br>
For the full text in Spanish, see:
<a href="http://www.aporrea.org/tiburon/n105390.html">Operación Tenaza:
Informe confidencial de la CIA devela plan de saboteo al referéndum del 2
de diciembre</a> <br>
<b>Source URL:</b>
<a href="http://www.chavezcode.com/2007/11/operation-pliers.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.chavezcode.com/2007/11/operation-pliers.html<br>
</a><b>Source URL:</b>
<a href="http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/2914" eudora="autourl">
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/2914<br>
</a><b>Printed:</b> November 30th 2007<br><br>
<br><br>
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