*This is a google translation: * Venezuelan Archbishop asked the U.S. government to act against President Hugo Chávez *Eva Golinger - www.aporrea.org* 12/12/1910 - www.aporrea.org/actualidad/n171296.html<http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.aporrea.org/actualidad/n171296.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Daporrea.org%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dgmail%26rls%3Dgm&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhgcSiC_oaALIBeFTRcQGO15KdroLg> <http://www.aporrea.org/imagenes/gente/610x_copia2.jpg> Baltazar Porras Credit: Archives A confidential document from the U.S. Embassy in Caracas written by former Ambassador William Brownfield in January 2005 reveals that the Catholic Bishop Baltazar Porras sought help from the U.S. government to "contain" Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The cable, which was sent by the Embassy to the National Security Council in Washington and the headquarters of the Pentagon's Southern Command, was published by Wikileaks on Sunday 12 December." Titled "Venezuelan Archbishop urges the U.S. government more critical stance against Chávez," Ambassador Brownfield told in the document during a meeting held on January 6, 2005 with Archbishop Porras, the religious leader said "the government U.S. should be more explicit in his criticism of Hugo Chavez. Porras urged the international community to contain more participation Chavez regional aspirations ... " Porras, who supported and participated in the coup in April 2002 against President Chavez and has continued in its efforts to overthrow the Venezuelan government to the Catholic church used as a shield, Ambassador Brownfield told that he considered President Chavez as a "problem long term. "But also "warned that the larger the government expects U.S. to contain Chávez," would be more difficult to achieve. The Venezuelan Bishop offered the U.S. government space programs and the Catholic Church for their operations against the government of Venezuela. "Porras offered to facilitate the efforts of the U.S. government in Venezuela at the community level to show that non-governmental institutions - the church, the private sector, etc - can have a positive impact on the poor in Venezuela. Dio welcome to the visiting U.S. government to the church and its social programs in poor neighborhoods. " In recent years, the U.S. government has increased funding through the Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) anti-Chavez groups in Venezuela, including multimillion-dollar contributions to the Catholic Church. One specific focus of this funding has been the penetration and infiltration of grassroots communities to counter and undermine the popularity of President Chavez in these areas. This document from the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela again evidence of coordinated efforts between sectors of the opposition in Venezuela and in particular the links with the leadership of the Catholic Church, and the U.S. government to isolate the government of President Chavez international level and achieve overthrow. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- DOCUMENT TRANSLATION Wikileaks SOURCE: U.S. EMBASSY IN CARACAS (AMBASSADOR WILLIAM BROWNFIELD) DATE: JANUARY 2005 CLASSIFICATION: CONFIDENTIAL SUBJECT: Baltazar Porras ASKS MORE U.S. GOVERNMENT ACTIONS "INCLUDE" THE PRESIDENT CHAVEZ AND THE CHURCH IN VENEZUELA OFFERS TO HELP THE U.S. GOVERNMENT ACTION AGAINST CHAVEZ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- CONFIDENTIAL SECTION 01 OF CARACAS 02,000,090 SIPDIS NSC TO TSHANNON And CBARTON Southern Command headquarters also Polad (Political Advisor) EO 12958: Declassify: 01/04/2015 TAGS: Phum PGOV KDEM Kirf VE SUBJECT: ARCHBISHOP URGES THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES AGAINST CHAVEZ more critical Sort by: Mark Wells, Policy Advisor, reason 1.4 (b). Summary ------- ------- 1. (CLASIFICADO) (RATED) Venezuela Archbishop Baltazar Porras, president of the board of Catholic Bishops of Venezuela, the ambassador said on 06 January that the U.S. government should be more explicit in his criticism . against Hugo Chávez.. Porras urged the international community's participation to contain Chávez regional aspirations, although he admitted that the political will to do so is minimal. He said that Chavez will continue trying to dismantle democracy, civil society, trade unions, business, and the church. The archbishop lamented the government's subtle campaign to set aside the church of its traditional work in the slums, the educational system and the military. End Summary. --------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ----- Church leader urges major commitment, and containment --------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ----- 2. (CLASSIFIED) At the invitation of the Apostolic Nuncio, the Ambassador attended a luncheon on January 6 with Baltazar Porras, Archbishop of Mérida and president of the Council of Bishops of Venezuela (CEV). Porras, one of the strongest public critics against President Hugo Chávez, told the Ambassador that there is a widespread perception among the opposition that the U.S. government softened its message against Chavez after the referendum in August 2004 for its energy interests . Porras suggested that the U.S. government is more clear and public in his criticism of the Chavez government. 3. (CLASIFICADO) (RATED) Porras said the international community should also work and talk more to contain Chavez and export of its revolution.Porras said that most regional governments have differed Brazilian President Ignacio Lula da Silva to deal with Chavez, because the two share a leftist ideology. Lula has refused to participate, however, which has impeded regional efforts to contain Chávez, the archbishop said. Porras said the Europeans have been equally weak with Chavez, particularly since the departure of Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar. The archbishop said both Latin America and Europe need strong leadership from the U.S. government. ------------------------- ------------------------- The fight against Chavez in the long term ------------------------- ------------------------- 4. (CLASIFICADO) (RATED) Porras described Chavez as a "long-term problem.Chavez said he will continue trying to dismantle the civil society groups need to promote democracy, organized labor, the independent press, the business community and the church.The archbishop cited the example of the efforts of the Government of Venezuela (GOV) to enter the Catholic school system in Merida. GOV officials insisted that the Catholics accepted "community representatives" in their school councils, and once accepted these people began to push "revolutionary reforms." Porras also said that contacts with the military has been reduced, which traditionally invited him change the command ceremonies but had not done in over three years. 5. (CLASIFICADO) (RATED) Porras offered to facilitate the efforts of the U.S. government in Venezuela at the community level to show that non-governmental institutions - the church, the private sector, etc - can have a positive impact on the poor in Venezuela . He welcomed the visits of the U.S. government to the church and its social programs in poor neighborhoods. Porras said that the larger the government expects the U.S. to contain Chávez, the more successful the GOV undermining traditional democratic organizations. He recognized an inherent conflict in his own analysis: Chávez is a long-term problem, but the longer it takes to contain it, the more difficult. Comments ------- ------- 6. (CLASIFICADO) (RATED) Porras and other Catholic leaders have kept a low profile since the referendum, whose results agreed with reservation. Chavez has targeted the church, especially its leadership, as an adversary and an ally of former political regime. Chavez has old conflict with Porras, who was one of the first accused Chavez of authoritarian tendencies. Rivalries aside, Porras understand the current national and international vision Venezuela. Catholic social projects Porras seeks to promote, but not to the scale of the "Missions" GOV, have a history of solidarity with the poor of Venezuela, it will not be so easily erased, despite the efforts of Chavez. Brownfield Read news about 7072 times. *Counter updated every 3 minutes* [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! 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