CIA Operation "Pliers" Uncovered in
Venezuela
November 28th 2007, by Eva Golinger
Last night CNN en Español aired the above image, which captions at
the bottom "Who Killed him?" by "accident". The image of President
Chavez with the caption about killing him below, which some could
say subliminally incites to assassination, was a "production error"
mistakenly made in the CNN en Español newsroom. The news anchor had
been narrarating a story about the situation between Colombia and
Venezuela and then switched to a story about an unsolved homicide
but - oops - someone forgot to change the screen image and
President Chavez was left with the killing statement below. Today
they apologized and admitted it was a rather "unfortunate" and
"regrettable" mistake. Yes, it was.
On a scarier note, an internal CIA memorandum has been obtained by
Venezuelan counterintelligence from the US Embassy in Caracas that
reveals a very sinister - almost fantastical, were it not true -
plan to destabilize Venezuela during the coming days. The plan,
titled "OPERATION PLIERS" was authored by CIA Officer Michael
Middleton Steere and was addressed to CIA Director General Michael
Hayden in Washington. Steere is stationed at the US Embassy in
Caracas under the guise of a Regional Affairs Officer. The internal
memorandum, dated November 20, 2007, references the "Advances of
the Final Stage of Operation Pliers", and confirms that the
operation is coordinated by the team of Human Intelligence (HUMINT)
in Venezuela. The memo summarizes the different scenarios that the
CIA has been working on in Venezuela for the upcoming referendum
vote on December 2nd. The Electoral Scenario, as it's phrased,
confirms that the voting tendencies will not change substantially
before Sunday, December 2nd, and that the SI (YES) vote in favor of
the constitutional reform has an advantage of about 10-13 points
over the NO vote. The CIA estimates abstention around 60% and
states in the memo that this voting tendency is irreversible before
the elections.
Officer Steere emphasizes the importance and success of the public
relations and propaganda campaign that the CIA has been funding
with more than $8 million during the past month - funds that the
CIA confirms are transfered through the USAID contracted company,
Development Alternatives, Inc., which set up operations in June
2002 to run the USAID Office for Transition Initiatives that funds
and advises opposition NGOs and political parties in Venezuela. The
CIA memo specifically refers to these propaganda initiatives as
"psychological operations" (PSYOPS), that include contracting
polling companies to create fraudulent polls that show the NO vote
with an advantage over the SI vote, which is false. The CIA also
confirms in the memo that it is working with international press
agencies to distort the data and information about the referendum,
and that it coordinates in Venezuela with a team of journalists and
media organized and directed by the President of Globovision,
Alberto Federico Ravell.
CIA Officer Michael Steere recommends to General Michael Hayden two
different strategies to work simultaneously: Impede the referendum
and refuse to recognize the results once the SI vote wins. Though
these strategies appear contradictory, Steere claims that they must
be implemented together precisely to encourage activities that aim
toward impeding the referendum and at the same time prepare the
conditions for a rejection of the results.
How is this to be done?
In the memo, the CIA proposes the following tactics and
actions:
* Take the streets and protest with violent, disruptive actions
across the nation
* Generate a climate of ungovernability
* Provoke a general uprising in a substantial part of the
population
* Engage in a "plan to implode" the voting centers on election day
by encouraging opposition voters to "VOTE and REMAIN" in their
centers to agitate others
* Start to release data during the early hours of the afternoon on
Sunday that favor the NO vote (in clear violation of election
regulations)
* Coordinate these activities with Ravell & Globovision and
international press agencies
* Coordinate with ex-militar officers and coupsters Pena Esclusa
and Guyon Cellis - this will be done by the Military Attache for
Defense and Army at the US Embassy in Caracas, Office of Defense,
Attack and Operations (DAO)
To encourage rejection of the results, the CIA proposes:
* Creating an acceptance in the public opinion that the NO vote
will win for sure
* Using polling companies contracted by the CIA
* Criticize and discredit the National Elections Council
* Generate a sensation of fraud
* Use a team of experts from the universities that will talk about
how the data from the Electoral Registry has been manipulated and
will build distrust in the voting system
The CIA memo also talks about:
* Isolating Chavez in the international community
* Trying to achieve unity amongst the opposition
* Seek an aliance between those abstentionists and those who will
vote "NO"
* Sustain firmly the propaganda against Chavez
* Execute military actions to support the opposition mobilizations
and propagandistic occupations
* Finalize the operative preparations on the US military bases in
Curacao and Colombia to provide support to actions in
Venezuela
* Control a part of the country during the next 72-120 hours
* Encourage a military rebellion inside the National Guard forces
and other components
Those involved in these actions as detailed in the CIA memo
are:
* The CIA Office in Venezuela - Office of Regional Affairs, and
Officer Michael Steere
* US Embassy in Venezuela, Ambassador Patrick Duddy
* Office of Defense, Attack and Operations (DAO) at the US Embassy
in Caracas and Military Attache Richard Nazario
Venezuelan Political Parties:
* Comando Nacional de la Resistencia
* Accion Democratica
* Primero Justicia
* Bandera Roja
Media:
* Alberto Federico Ravell & Globovision
* Interamerican Press Society (IAPA) or SIP in Spanish
* International Press Agencies
Venezuelans:
* Pena Esclusa
* Guyon Cellis
* Dean of the Simon Bolivar University, Rudolph Benjamin
Podolski
* Dean of the Andres Bello Catholic University, Ugalde
* Students: Yon Goicochea, Juan Mejias, Ronel Gaglio, Gabriel
Gallo, Ricardo Sanchez
Operation Tenaza has the objective of encouraging an armed
insurrection in Venezuela against the government of President
Chavez that will justify an intervention of US forces, stationed on
the military bases nearby in Curacao and Colombia. The Operation
mentions two countries in code: as Blue and Green. These refer to
Curacao and Colombia, where the US has operative, active and
equipped bases that have been reinforced over the past year and a
half in anticipation of a conflict with Venezuela.
The document confirms that psychological operations are the CIA's
best and most effective weapon to date against Venezuela, and it
will continue its efforts to influence international public opinion
regarding President Chavez and the situation in the country.
Operation Tenaza is a very alarming plan that aims to destabilize
Venezuela and overthrow (again) its legitimate and democratic (and
very popularly support) president. The plan will fail, primarily
because it has been discovered, but it must be denounced around the
world as an unacceptable violation of Venezuela's
sovereignty.
The original document in English will be available in the public
sphere soon for viewing and authenticating purposes. And it also
contains more information than has been revealed here.
For the full text in Spanish, see: Operación Tenaza: Informe
confidencial de la CIA devela plan de saboteo al referéndum del 2
de diciembre
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/2914
For more dirty tricks by CIA, see:
http://www.killinghope.org
