How the N.E.D. Violates Sovereignity and Self-Determination in Venezuela

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Thu, 14 Jul 2005 12:25:12 -0700 (PDT)

The Sumate Case-How the N.E.D. Violates Sovereignity and

Self-Determination in Venezuela

 

 

 

Part of plan to take over and control the world.

 

 

 

The Sumate Case- How the N.E.C. Violates Sovereignity and

Self-Determination in Venezuela

 

 

July 11, 2005

 

By: Eva Golinger - Venezuelanalysis.com

 

Let's set the record straight once and for all. There is no need to

keep kidding ourselves into thinking that our U.S. taxpayer dollars

are being used by this little known entity, the National Endowment for

Democracy, to truly " promote democracy abroad " , as its mission

proclaims. Since its founding in 1983 via Congressional legislation,

the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has come under severe

criticism and scrutiny from Republicans, Democrats, and other

concerned citizens, for its clear roots in Central Intelligence Agency

(CIA) activities and its misdirected motives. And now, the NED is once

again at the forefront of controversy and inquiry but this time in one

of the Bush Administration's latest areas of " focus, " the hemisphere's

largest oil-exporting nation, Venezuela.

 

On Thursday, July 7, 2005, a Venezuelan Judge determined the Federal

Prosecutor had presented sufficient evidence to allow a case against

four members of the opposition organization Súmate to proceed on its

merits. The case against the two Súmate directors, Maria Corina

Machado and Alejandro Plaz, and their accomplices, Ricardo Estévez and

Luis Enrique Palacios, is based on the organization's use of a $53,400

grant from the National Endowment for Democracy to " conspire against

the government " . Súmate was co-founded in late 2002 by opposition

activist Maria Corina Machado, a signer of the famous " Carmona

Decree, " the mandate implemented during the April 2002 coup d'etat

against President Hugo Chávez by " dictator for a day " Pedro Carmona

that dissolved Venezuela's judiciary, congress, constitution and all

public powers. The organization's initial mission was to " promote a

recall referendum against President Chávez " based on Article 72 of

Venezuela's Constitution that permits recall referendums on any public

official's mandate after the midway point of the functionary's term

has been reached, hardly an apolitical objective.

 

Yet Súmate and its directive were prime players in the debilitating

oil industry sabotage and strike that caused the nation billions of

dollars in damages and set back oil production for almost a year. And

at the tail end of the strike in early 2003, Súmate still couldn't

play by the rules. Instead of waiting for President Chávez to reach

the midway point of his presidential term, in August 2003, the

organization demanded a " consultative referendum " on the President's

mandate in February 2003, and protested to the international community

(read " USA " ) when it didn't get its way despite the fact that its

request was unconstitutional.

 

In September 2003, Súmate entered into a contract with the National

Endowment for Democracy for a $53,400 grant destined to implement a

program of non-partisan " elections education. " Yet the goal of the

program itself, to " promote a recall referendum against President

Chávez " and the language used to justify the grant, claiming

" …Chávez's revolutionary rhetoric, public disregard for democratic

processes and institutions and vitriolic attacks on his opponents,

escalated political and social tensions and hardened the opposition, "

was clearly anti-Chávez. The concept of promoting a recall referendum

against the President, though within the constitutional rights of all

Venezuelans, is inherently a partisan act. Súmate was not pretending

to educate or work with all Venezuelans on elections in general, but

rather was specifically " promoting " and campaigning for a referendum

against President Chávez, with the goal of prematurely terminating his

mandate. And that is precisely what the organization worked towards,

utilizing the funding from the National Endowment for Democracy, along

with additional and larger grants from the United States Agency for

International Development ( " USAID " ) and funds from the National

Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute, both

entities financed by NED and USAID. Day after day during a period of

almost a year, Súmate launched an aggressive and manipulative campaign

against President Chávez in the mass media, aided in intimidating

voters by threatening job loss for failure to sign petitions in favor

of the referendum and later engaged in mass fraud during and after the

referendum was over. In fact, to this day, Súmate continues to promote

a thesis of fraud regarding the recall referendum last August 15,

2004, which ratified President Chávez's mandate with more than 60% of

the vote – certified as transparent and legitimate by the Organization

of American States, the Carter Center and the U.S. Department of State.

 

Súmate continues to engage in an antagonistic campaign against the

Venezuelan Government and its democratic institutions, including the

National Elections Council (Consejo Nacional Electoral - CNE),

responsible for conducting all electoral processes. Súmate, along with

other opposition political parties, is now promoting a thesis of

abstention and lack of confidence in the CNE and the upcoming

congressional elections in Venezuela, hardly a position that

encourages " participation in the electoral process " , or " elections

education " and clearly not apolitical. In fact, Súmate has been deemed

a political party by many analysts and spokespersons for the

Venezuelan government.

 

Curiously, Súmate has also received an unprecedented and almost

inexplicable level of support from the U.S. Government, and not just

financial support, but rather political support on a very public and

international level. In November 2004, after an initial court date had

been set for the case against the Súmate directors, NED President Carl

Gershman, accompanied by Latin America Program Director Chris

Sabatini, made a historic visit to Venezuela with the objective of

convincing the government to drop the case. Gershman met separately

with then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Ivan Rincon and Attorney

General Isaias Rodriguez, threatening both functionaries that if the

case were to proceed against the Súmate members, relations between the

two nations would worsen and a World Bank grant to Venezuela's Supreme

Court for a judicial reform program would be cut. Days afterward,

Gershman came through on his promises. The NED, surely with the

powerful aid of its boss, the Department of State, had pulled its

strings with the World Bank and cut the funding to Venezuela's

judiciary, and just twenty-four hours after Gershman returned to U.S.

soil, a well-crafted letter from " 70 respected international

democrats, " all either board members of the NED or beneficiaries of

NED-related programs, was released from NED's public relations office,

condemning the case against Súmate and accusing the Venezuelan

Government of political persecution and violation of democratic

principles. And before Gershman parted from Venezuela, he revealingly

declared to the press, in a fit of anger perhaps for not getting his

way, that " Venezuela is neither a democracy nor a dictatorship but

rather something in between. " Clearly such a statement evidences NED's

opposition to Venezuela's democratic government.

 

Just last month, Súmate director and defendant Maria Corina Machado

received a surprise invitation to meet with President George W. Bush

in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. Ms. Machado

appeared in a fantastical photograph holding hands with President Bush

in the Oval Office, smiling from ear to ear. Upon her exit from the

momentous visit, Machado gave a press conference on the White House

lawn, a place fit for prime ministers, presidents and high-level

officials. She was the first Venezuelan during the Bush presidency to

be invited and received in the White House, not a single member of the

Chávez Government has received a similar invitation. On the contrary,

the Bush Administration has participated in and supported a coup

d'etat against President Chávez in 2002, a vicious oil industry

sabotage that caused almost irreparable damages and an ongoing

destabilization campaign, including an international media war

intended to discredit the Venezuelan leader, that has polarized

Venezuela and fomented violence, conflict and animosity.

 

Yet Súmate and its members have received the royal treatment from the

U.S. Government – democrats and republicans alike. Just recently,

during a visit of several U.S. Congress members to Venezuela, it was

declared that Súmate would receive " even more financing " from the NED

and USAID. The day after the court decided to allow the case against

Súmate to proceed on its merits, Tom Casey, Acting Spokesman for the

U.S. Department of State issued a press release entitled " Súmate Trial

Decision, " expressing the U.S. Government's " disappointment " in the

judge's decision to try the Súmate leaders and alleging the Venezuelan

Government engages in " political persecution and continued threats to

democratic rights and institutions. " Once again, the U.S. Government

failed to recognize that Venezuela too cherishes the doctrine of

separation of powers. The case against Súmate now falls within the

judicial power – and the prosecutor's office that is bringing the case

falls within the moral power, a branch nonexistent in the U.S.

Venezuela has five independent branches of government: executive,

legislative, judicial, electoral and moral – neither controls nor

influences the other. The U.S. Government has consistently attempted

to pressure the Venezuelan executive into acting on the Súmate case,

disrespecting outright the independent and separate nature of

Venezuela's political system and trying to dominate and intimidate the

Venezuelan Government.

 

So why is the U.S. Government so afraid of the case against Súmate?

Most likely because the case exposes the nefarious and deceitful

nature of the National Endowment for Democracy and other U.S.

Government facades for civil society intervention. The NED is a U.S.

Government agency, though often referred to as " quasi-governmental "

because it insists on its status as " private, " despite the fact that

99% of its funding comes from Congress (tax money) and it was

established through Congressional legislation in 1983. The NED is also

required to report to Congress annually on its activities and

exercises its functions under direct supervision of the Department of

State. In fact, each NED representative in the more than 75 nations

where the organization operates is stationed usually in the U.S.

Embassy, working under the supervision of the U.S. Ambassador.

 

In early 2001, NED quadrupled its financing to groups in Venezuela and

increased the amount of grants it was dispensing, funding new social

organizations and political parties that had emerged within the

growing opposition to President Chávez. NED spokespersons have not

denied the fact that all of the entities it finances in Venezuela fall

within the anti-Chávez spectrum. Furthermore, after the April 2002

failed coup against President Chávez, the NED received a special $1

million grant from the Department of State for its work in Venezuela.

Instead of cutting funding to those groups that had participated in

the illegal coup that briefly deposed Venezuela's legitimate

government, the NED actually increased such funding, rewarding those

very same groups that had wrecked havoc on Venezuela's democracy.

 

The NED has been engaging in ongoing efforts to strengthen

organizations and political parties working to overthrow the Chávez

administration or eventually oust the President from power through

electoral processes. Its work consistently undermines the objectives

and missions of the Venezuelan people and their Government by

funneling millions into groups working against the wishes of the

majority and providing and resources aimed at building a solid

opposition party capable of challenging the Venezuelan Government.

While it is perfectly legitimate in democratic nations for diverse

political parties and groups to co-exist, such efforts should never be

funded by foreign governments, especially those governments with major

self-interests in the nation and contrasting political positions.

 

The NED is one of the U.S. Government's most powerful tools to

discretely and subtly promote its interests abroad and penetrate civil

societies with the objective of influencing the internal affairs of

nations to placate U.S. needs. Ethiopia recently expelled the NED and

USAID and their affiliates, the International Republican Institute,

the National Democratic Institute and IFES for " meddling in domestic

electoral affairs " (see The Daily Monitor, April 1, 2005, Addis Abba,

Ethiopia). And in May, 2005, Russia's security chief, accused the U.S.

Government of " using non-governmental organizations that promote

democracy to spy on Russia and bring about political upheaval in

former Soviet republics " , referring specifically to the NED and

USAID-funded International Republic Institute (see The Guardian).

 

The NED and USAID played key roles in recent elections in the Ukraine,

Georgia, Belarus and other Eastern European nations that all resulted

in outcomes favorable to U.S. interests. In Venezuela, the case

against Súmate is exposing the NED's dirty work and threatening its

ongoing existence and success around the world, which is why it has

provoked the involvement of the highest levels of the U.S. Government.

This case may very well turn out to be the death of the National

Endowment for Democracy, or at least the start of its slow descent

into oblivion.

**For more information about the National Endowment for Democracy and

its violation of Venezuela's sovereignty using U.S. taxpayer dollars,

read " The Chávez Code: Cracking U.S. Intervention in Venezuela " by Eva

Golinger, available on www.venezuelafoia.info/codigo.html. Versions

available in English and Spanish.

 

By: Eva Golinger - Venezuelanalysis.com