AP: US funds political groups in Venezuela despite ban (Go past the obligatory spin.)

[Judi Lynn]

US funds political groups in Venezuela despite ban
4:55 AM Saturday Jul 19, 2014

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) Almost four years after Venezuela enacted a law to bar the U.S. from funding groups frequently critical of the socialist government, millions of the American dollars the administration tried to ban still flow to these organizations, an analysis by The Associated Press shows. Much more U.S. support is under consideration.

The State Department and the National Endowment for Democracy, a government-funded nonprofit organization, together budgeted about $7.6 million to support Venezuelan groups last year alone, according to public documents reviewed by AP.

That was 15 percent more than they collectively authorized in 2009, the year before then-President Hugo Chavez pushed Venezuela's Congress to ban such funding in the name of protecting the country's sovereignty from groups it views as the opposition.

In Washington, the Senate is considering a bill to boost State Department aid to pro-democracy groups in Venezuela from about $5 million to $15 million amid calls for a tougher line against Venezuela after current President Nicolas Maduro cracked down on anti-government protests. A similar version cleared by the House would maintain current funding levels.

More:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11296018

(No where in this article do they mention that foreign funding of political groups is banned in this country. Small oversight, no doubt. )

[Judi Lynn]

1. Does It Matter That the Venezuelan Opposition Is Funded by the US?

Does It Matter That the Venezuelan Opposition Is Funded by the US?
By Ray Downs Feb 28 2014

~snip~
These programs have several names and objectives. Some have clearly benevolent goals; one is targeted at discouraging violence against women, for instance. But other US efforts in Venezuela are unabashedly political, such as a 2004 USAID program that, according to a Wikileaks cable, would spend $450,000 to “provide training to political parties on the design, planning, and execution of electoral campaigns.” The program would also create “campaign training schools” that would recruit campaign managers and emphasize “the development of viable campaign strategies and effectively communicating party platforms to voters.”

Interestingly, it's illegal for a US political party or candidate to accept funding from any “foreign national,” which includes individuals, corporations, and governments. Venezuela passed a similar law in 2010, but this is easily circumvented by channeling the money through NGOs.

It's difficult to determine exactly how much money the US has spent on these political programs in Venezuela since Chávez was first elected in 1998, but some estimates put the figure around $50 to $60 million. This year alone, President Obama earmarked $5 million to “support political competition-building efforts” in Venezuela.

It's understandable, then, that some critics of Venezuela's opposition have argued that the protests are in part due to US meddling.

“There's absolutely some organic movement against the government. There are concerns about crime and other things,” said Roberto Lovato, a journalist who has covered the drug war and social movements in Latin America. “But if you don't factor in the millions of dollars that's been spent on destabilizing the government and prop up opposition leaders, it's not the whole story.”

More:
http://www.vice.com/read/does-the-uss-funding-of-the-venezuelan-opposition-matter

[Zorro]

2. Dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/110832044

And the article also points out that Venezuela engages in the same activity.

[Judi Lynn]

3. I posted mine earlier than yours, this afternoon. Yours is the "dupe." n/t