Venezuela's Chavez has become a big headache for the US administration. They have enough to cope with in Iraq without having to deal with a second country (the first being Cuba) apparently taking the socialist road in the US's Latin American "backyard', and trying to construct a regional bloc against the US as it does so. ALEX COWPER reports In February this year the Director of the CIA, Porter Goss, named Venezuela as the top 'potential area for such operations can miss instability' America. three options traditionally other US government agenlooks risky at the moment. sinate Chavez and thus decapitate the movement as they did with President Allende in Chile in 1973.
There are problems with this option because if they fail, Chavez's support would grow massively, as it did after the failed coup by the US and its Venezuelan allies in 2002. If they succeed, Chavez would become a support is much stronger. martyr and again support for the Bolivarian process Robertson's recent call for
would very likely grow.
'Chavismo' has sunk
deeper roots than did
Allende's brand of
reformism and Chavez's
supporters are also better
prepared against military
intervention, with much of
the army on side for now
and at least a partial arming
of the citizens commencing.
Former CIA agent Felix
Rodriguez has said that one
US option would be an air
strike, of the kind carried
out against Libyan leader
Colonel Ghadafi in 1986.
But apart from the fact that Latin their target, as they did in politically constrained by dictator and has a stronger looks deal with mombit. democratic mandate thin any other leader in the world probably any other leader in The first would be to assas- the world, something confirmed by last year's referendum result.
Simply to kill such a leader
would carry a political cost, not only in Venezuela, but across Latin America and worldwide. This is probably why Chavez was not immediately killed during the 2002 coup. Nowadays, of course, Chavez's domestic
evangelist Pat
IN A ME Chavez addresses a recent conference of trade unionists in Caracas impact in the US of the banning of the DEA has probably been outweighed by Damascus conversion. Chavez's offensive to win (for example speaking in New York alongside Jesse Venezuelan state oil refineries as aid centres after Hurricane Katrina. Both initiatives have naturally infuriated the US government.
new balance of forces and is in no way a road-toAmerican agencies will no Black and Latino support doubt range widely in their
search for contacts and col laborators. Certain 'moderJackson) and by his offer of ate' forces in Chavez's own
government and in the governing parties are voicing alarm as the Bolivarian process radicalizes. Cosy sinecures and corrupt oldboy networks are potentially The second option is for threatened by mass selfthe US: to fund a domestic activity. These people would