Uribe Would Be Involved in the “Final Offensive” Against Venezuela

First published April 25, 2008

The so-called “final offensive” against Venezuela (the purpose of which is to take President Chávez out of power) is being planned presumably from Colombia, and would be executed by that country’s army, according to agreements between Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and “the known agent of the intelligence services of the United States,” William Brownfield.

This information is recorded in the document titled “Shock and Awe Theory in Venezuela: Provoke a State of Shock In Order to Command Respect,” presented to the Public Ministry by former Venezuelan Attorney General Isaías Rodríguez when he went to make declarations regarding the Danilo Anderson case last Friday.

Citing sources from the Security Administration Department (DAS) of Colombia, the document recounts a recent private meeting in which Ambassador Brownfield, President Uribe, Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos, and Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos participated. They conversed about plans to promote the “secession of the state of Zulia, Venezuela.”

The source from within the DAS said that the ambassador made reference to a previous conversation he had with the United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who reportedly said: “The structure will be set up in the oil state, and the collaboration of Governor Manuel Rosales,” but the support of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia is still lacking. The source added, “the Venezuelan army will by displaced to impede the autonomy and in that moment is when the paramilitaries come into play. Uribe interrupted to express that this action was very dangerous and that he did not think Venezuelans would accept the state’s separation. I know the Venezuelans well and they will not accept this, so perhaps this favors Chávez.”

Francisco Santos rebutted Uribe, saying that “the idea is to distract Chávez while the other part of the plan is carried out in Caracas, Valencia, and Maracay”. Brownfield calmed Uribe, saying “don´t worry, everything is already prepared, we’ve been in Venezuela creating the conditions in Zulia for years, now the only thing left is to tie up the loose strings from Colombia and sew together the operation to produce the Venezuelan May.”

Uribe put Francisco Santos in charge of the details “without it looking like the Government is involved because we would go to war. The ambassador ended the discussion like this: ‘this is the best moment, because the electoral season in the United States makes many people think that our country is focused on that juncture, therefore any direct or indirect action by the United States would be ruled out or unsubstantiated. Long live the element of surprise.’”

The document also points out that in order to break Chávez down morally it must be planned that paramilitaries already located in Caracas kidnap his youngest son and transport him to an unspecified place in Colombia.

Translated by James Suggett