New Evidence of Terrorist Acts Planned Against Venezuela to be Presented Soon
Pro-Chavez Nat. Assembly deputies claim to have new videos, recordings of phone conversations, and photos to prove that some foreign governments are trying to intervene in Venezuela's internal affairs.
Caracas, 27 Oct, 2003.- National Assembly deputy Juan Barreto, said today that he and other deputies will soon present new evidence of “acts of terrorism against Venezuela’s democracy.”
“We have managed to intercept classified documents from some foreign governments who have tried to intervene in the internal affairs of Venezuela”, said the assemblyman who claimed to have recordings of telephone conversations and other supporting evidence.
“We have new videos, audio-visual material and photographs that also we are going to present at the appropriate moment”, said Barreto who is also a member of President Chavez’s party.
The deputy emphasized that the evidence must be carefully analyzed, “taking into account that these are tool for political debate and for denunciation, with which we cannot be playing carelessly.”
“We are going to be showing those documents, and I ask the mass media to have patience. All the accusations made by us, are done in a serious and responsible way”, he added.
Barreto that when he and other deputies said that a coup d’etat was in the making, three months before the one that took place in April of 2002, “Pedro Carmona and Carlos Ortega were already mounted in a conspiracy, and some mass media made fun of us”. Carmona and Ortega are both fugitives of justice living overseas after their role in the coup and in the sabotage of the oil industry between December and February of 2003.
“After what happened in April 2002, the world saw we were right. All the accusations that we have made as journalists and parliamentarians, have been made based on the truth,” he affirmed.
As far as the debate proposed publicly last week by an opposition deputy to discuss acts of terrorism in Venezuela, Barreto said: “we are going to debate, are we are prepared for it. We have a little bomb. We have consistent and convincing proof which we will present in the right opportunity.”
Last week, Barreto along with deputy Nicolás Maduro, released a video that shows U.S. officials discussing clandestine activities of sabotage to help the opposition topple President Chavez’s government.
Maduro and Barreto accuse the opposition of planning destabilization tactics for the late November signature collection drive.
Venezuela has suffered a wave of unprecedented terrorist attacks in the last months ranging from a bomb thrown at the Presidential Honor Guard barracks, to explosions at the Colombian and Spanish diplomatic buildings, and recently an explosion at the Amuay refinery owned by PDVSA, the oil company which last December was the target of sabotage sponsored by opposition parties.
Opposition militants have been linked to the explosions at the Colombian and Spanish diplomatic missions, and to the bombing of the Honor Guard barracks, according to investigations by law enforcement authorities.
As polls show that President Chavez remains the most popular politician in the country, and Wall Street experts predict his victory in an eventual referendum, pro-Chavez politicians and analysts have predicted desperate acts by the opposition to topple the democratically elected president.