It is no secret that the Bush administration despises Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the progressive policies pursued by that country, including its solidarity with Cuba. What is a secret, so far, is the identity of organizations within Venezuela who are receiving funding from the US government.
In an article released today, Ian James of the Associated Press reports that Chavez supporters are criticizing the decision of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) not to disclose names of "pro-democracy" groups in Venezuela who have received financial assistance. USAID has cited privacy concerns as support for their decision to withold identification of some of the Venezuelan groups they've supported.
"We want everything to come out publicly," said Venezuelan congressman Jose Albornoz in the Associated Press dispatch. Albornoz is described as the leader of a Venezuelan commission investigating US funding for a group called Sumate which, according to Albornoz, is a US backed group organized to oppose the Chavez government.
President Chavez has been open and vocal in expressing his view that the Bush administration has made efforts to destabilize his government. Rev. Pat Robertson, a long-time figure on the evangelical/fundamentalist ultra-right and a previously unsuccessful candidate for the Republican Party's presidential nomination, gained a measure of infamy when he suggested in 2005 that the US government assassinate Chavez -- a remark for which he was almost universally condemned.
The US history of intereference in central and South America is well documented. Venezuela is a member nation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and has made heating oil readily available through Citgo to low-income households in the northeastern part of the US -- an initiative that infuriated the Bush administration. President Chavez recently announced the continuation of this program for another year.
Some of the questions raised about whom the US in funding in Venezuela may be answered when the US Circuit Court in Washington, DC hears a lawsuit brought by journalist Jeremy Bigwood and attorney Eva Golinger. The lawsuit, brought under the Freedom of Information Act, seeks full disclosure and contends the provisions of the US Privacy Act do not apply to organizations.
