Date: August 27, 2006 1:04:01 PM PDT
Subject: [SPY NEWS] Venezuela Says It Seized 4 Spies; U.S. Embassy Denies Knowledge
Venezuela Says It Seized 4 Spies; U.S. Embassy Denies Knowledge
Article Tools Sponsored By
By SIMON ROMERO
Published: August 20, 2006
CARACAS, Venezuela, Aug. 19 — President Hugo Chávez said that the authorities here had captured four people who were spying for the United States, and he taunted the Bush administration for making Venezuela a target of high-level intelligence scrutiny.
Speaking at a campaign rally on Friday night in western Venezuela, Mr. Chávez, who has made attacks on the United States a staple of his re-election campaign, ridiculed the administration’s establishment of a mission manager for intelligence on Venezuela and Cuba. J. Patrick Maher, a longtime veteran of the C.I.A., was named to the post on Friday.
Iran and North Korea are the only other countries assigned such senior intelligence managers, who are not expected to directly oversee intelligence operations or analysis but rather guide these activities on a strategic level.
“They selected Jack the Ripper,” Mr. Chávez said, referring to Mr. Maher. “Whatever their plan is, we stand ready to defeat it.”
Accusations of spying have become commonplace in Venezuela in the past two years, as Mr. Chávez’s government grows more explicit in its criticism of the United States, emboldened by climbing oil revenues and a perception that his opponents stand little chance of defeating him in the December election.
Authorities have offered little evidence in relation to the various spying charges, but the government has often pointed to the tacit support the Bush administration gave to a coup that briefly ousted Mr. Chávez in 2002.
The new accusations contained few details, though Mr. Chávez did say: “I’ve caught four of their spies, four, and I’ve put them back in their hands. Not long ago we caught a very beautiful woman in Valencia, taking photos.”
American officials here appear to be growing used to such charges, after Venezuela’s expulsion in February of a naval attaché, contending he was a spy.
“We have no idea what the president is talking about,” Brian Penn, a United States Embassy spokesman, said Saturday of the new charges.
-__ ___ _ ___ __ ___ _ _ _ __
/-_|-0-\-V-/-\|-|-__|-|-|-/-_|
\_-\--_/\-/|-\\-|-_||-V-V-\_-\
|__/_|--//-|_|\_|___|\_A_/|__/
SPY NEWS is OSINT newsletter and discussion list associated to
Mario's Cyberspace Station - The Global Intelligence News Portal
Since you are receiving and reading documents, news stories,
comments and opinions not only from so called (or self-proclaimed)
"reliable sources", but also a lot of possible misinformation collected
by Spy News moderator and subscribers and posted to Spy News
for OSINT purposes - it should be a serious reason (particularly to
journalists and web publishers) to think twice before using it for their
story writing, further publishing or forwarding throughout Cyberspace.
To unsubscribe:
*** FAIR USE NOTICE: This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Spy News is making it available without profit to SPY NEWS members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We always mention the author and link the original site and page of every article. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
For more information go to:
SPY NEWS home page:
Mario Profaca
e-mail: mario.profaca[at]zg.htnet.hr
SPY NEWS owner, editor
and discussion moderator
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
