US Supported Venezuela Coup

No surprise but more documents - if Iraq had not come up I predicted we would now have troops in Columbia or Venezuela. There are a lot of old Reaganites and spy guys in this administration that want the old right dictator governments in Latin America back. Cuba is very high on their list too. The NED has taken over some old CIA functions.

Washington's efforts to oust Venezuela's democratic government did not begin or end with the April 2002 coup. The U.S. State Department noted in its internal investigation of Washington's role in the coup that "the [State] Department, and DOD [US Department of Defense] provided training, institution building, and other support under programs totaling about $3.3 million to Venezuelan organizations and individuals, some of whom are understood to have been involved in the events of April 12-14 [the coup]."

The same is true for National Endowment for Democracy, which is funded by the U.S. Congress. After the coup failed, the NED continued to fund opposition groups—-including some led by supporters of the coup—as they tried to recall President Chavez in a referendum on August 15 of this year. The recall effort failed by a margin of 59 to 41 percent—the third overwhelming electoral victory for Chavez.

As a result of Congressman Serrano's efforts, the NED will have to explain to the Congress how U.S. taxpayers' dollars ended up funding coup leaders, as well as other efforts contrary to its mission of "promoting democracy."