http://yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1620&mode=thread&order=0
''Waiting for a response to U.S.-based terrorists''
Printed on Monday, October 13, 2003 @ 00:05:31 CST ( )
By Dozthor Zurlent
YellowTimes.org Guest Columnist
(YellowTimes.org) On January 29, 2003, The U.S. daily, the Wall Street
Journal, published an editorial revealing the existence of terrorist
training camps in Florida. Rodolfo Frómeta, a Cuban, and former Army
Captain Luis Eduardo García, a Venezuelan, are named in the article as
the leaders of the paramilitary coalition formed by the "F-4 Commandos"
and "The Venezuelan Patriotic Junta." García, a former Captain, was one
of the leaders of the defeated coup against democratically elected
president Hugo Chavez Frías in Venezuela in April 2002.
The training camps located in the Florida Everglades seem to have
escaped the reach of the Homeland Security Office, created by President
Bush as a way of protecting the United States against terrorist attacks.
This oversight seems to come from the fact that this coalition was not
set up to attack the United States; instead, it follows the tradition of
the Contras and their terror campaign in Nicaragua, and other groups
such as Alpha 66 and the F-4 itself and their terror campaigns against
Cuba. This time the coalition between F-4 and the Venezuelan Junta has
been set up to train paramilitary forces to terrorize Venezuela. Shortly
after the Wall Street Journal article came out, the Venezuelan
government made information available to the U.S. embassy in Venezuela
specifically detailing the activities carried out by these two groups.
The Venezuelan government did not receive a response from the U.S.
embassy at that time. It was not until plans to assassinate President
Chávez surfaced, during his planned visit to Harlem, New York last
September, that the Venezuelan government went public denouncing the
plot and the existence of terrorist groups, training freely in Florida,
conspiring to overthrow the government. In addition, in a televised
appearance before the international media, Chavez revealed that his
government is in possession of a video, secretly recorded by his
security forces, of a CIA officer giving a class to Venezuelans on
surveillance.
Even though President Chavez did not cite the Wall Street Journal
article specifically, the international media picked up the report and
have challenged the U.S. government to come forward with an explanation
for its double standard on terrorism.
The United States was slow in responding. On September 30th, a few days
after Chavez's statements, the U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela, Charles S.
Shapiro stated, "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."
Showing a certain disdain and even annoyance he also stated, "some
Venezuelans have been receiving military training in the United States."
He further admitted that the information was also published in a Miami
newspaper a year ago, but he was unable to explain why no action was
taken by the Homeland Security Department. "We're not going to take
action against anybody ... we haven't been able to make any headway."
The Venezuelan President has been relentless in pursuing the issue. "Who
gave the United States government the right to bomb cities, invade
countries, overthrow governments?" Chávez asked. "No one gave this right
to the United States government. And here, we will keep saying that."
The United States was cornered. It could come clean and say that its
policy is that terrorism is okay when it is carried out against
unfriendly governments or political movements, an admission that would
create a public uproar. Alternatively, it could go and dismantle the
terrorist group in south Florida, paying a high political price and
alienating politicians in Miami.
It decided to go with the usual tactic and make baseless accusations
against the Venezuelan government, stating that it is the Venezuelans
who are supporting and sponsoring terrorism. For this task, they picked
Linda Robinson, a writer for U.S. News and World Report. How Robinson
and the U.S. News and World Report were chosen as the means for the
dissemination of false propaganda against Venezuela is something about
which I do not want to speculate; history will probably tell one day.
Robinson's article came out on October 6th and is a sample of
propaganda- journalism. Among other things, Ms. Robinson claims that the
Chavez administration is importing foreigners en masse and giving them
Venezuelan passports. She does not provide any factual backing for this
statement. The article also mentions the case of Hakim Mamad al Diab
Fatah and blames the Venezuelan government for failing to keep tabs on
him after the U.S. deported him in 2002. U.S. authorities themselves
detained Diab Fatah in the United States, but then deported him (rather
than keeping him in jail) because they lacked sufficient evidence to
justify holding him. If Diab Fatah was indeed the dangerous character
that Robinson's unnamed sources claim, one wonders why the United States
set him free in the first place. In the aftermath of September 11, the
U.S. government has not been reluctant to hold foreigners in custody on
mere suspicion of involvement with terrorist activities.
Ms. Robinson also joined Venezuelan and Colombian politicians and media
conglomerates in falsely claiming that the Venezuelan government has
been involved in supporting the FARC guerilla organization.
These absurd claims have been proven absolutely false over and over
again. For example on August 8, 2003, the Colombian newspaper, El
Espectador, published an article that states that Moises Roberto Boyer
Riobueno claimed to have been a pilot for Venezuelan vice president Jose
Rangel and claimed to have helped ferry FARC commanders in and out of
Colombia on Rangel's orders. The Colombian intelligence service later
found every one of Boyer's claims to be false and he was deported.
Boyer's declarations had appeared in newspapers worldwide. Once it was
exposed that his statements were fabricated, his case disappeared from
the press without clarification.
None of the statements made by Ms. Robinson can endure the test of
validation. What led or misled Ms. Robinson to endanger her career by
writing an article of this kind is something to wonder about. The people
in the United States are everyday learning more and more about what is
really happening in Venezuela and other countries. They have access to
alternative sources of information and they are learning to be
suspicious of its government's assessments and affirmations (see weapons
of mass destruction and Iraq).
President Chávez has invited Ms. Robinson to the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela. Maybe she should take advantage of the invitation and immerse
herself in the realities of a country that is building a system of
participatory democracy through a peaceful process. Venezuela is
building a peace and a democracy that terrorist groups from Miami would
like to destroy.
The Venezuelan government is still waiting for the U.S. government to
respond regarding the Miami terrorist groups.
[Dozthor Zurlent is an international spokesperson and lecturer who
speaks about Latin American democracy and development.]
Dozthor Zurlent encourages your comments: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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