Venezuelan Government To Investigate 9/11

[ianrcrane]

Hot on the heels of Charlie Sheen and Ed Asner's support for the 9/11 Truth Campaign, Jimmy Walter and WTC survivor William Rodriguez have been invited to appear on Hugo Chavez's (President of Venezuela) weekly TV broadcast

Full story at: www.prisonplanet.com/articles/march2006/310306launchinvestigation.htm

Let's get ready to Rock & Roll!

Ian R. Crane

[Justin]

I'm not sure about Jimmy being a 'billionaire' but this news is fantastic and hats off to Jimmy again. I have to say I am a real fan of Hugo Chavez and I remember that excellent fly on the wall documentary that was being done about him when the CIA supported coup attempt in 2002 boke out and how the people put him back into power. We might even have a new sponsor for our campaign - I suggest an approach to the Venezuelan Embassy be made once we know the full outcome of Jimmy's visit.

[Annie]

Good idea, Justin.

The other half has kindly offered to draft a letter to the embassy. Please send any ideas etc to be included to him. He's "Shayler" on this forum.

Regards

Annie

[Sinclair]

On the subject of Venezuela, here is a version of John Pilger's Email To Channel 4's Jon Snow, regarding the smearing of Chavez on Channel 4 news on 27/3/06 (Ididn't see the programme).

I saw this on the Medialens Message board here =http://www.medialens.org/board/. Medialens is a great site & the messageboard is updated regularly - with attention drawn to misreported stories etc. Medialens publishes copies of e-mail complaints sent to journos/newspapers etc., together with their responses (if any).

A recent thread is that Channel 4 news has become like the rest of the Mainstream medi in the this country.


++++++++++++++++++

John Pilger Email To Channel 4's Jon Snow
Posted by The Editors on March 28, 2006, 9:39 am

A version has been sent personally to Jon Snow...

John (Snow)

Last night (March 27), Channel 4 News broadcast a relatively long piece on Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela. On Channel 4's website you get a flavour: "He is in danger of joining a rogue's gallery of dictators and despots -- Washington's latest Latin nightmare."

This was a piece seemingly written by the US State Department, although Channel 4's Washington correspondent, Jonathan Rugman, appeared on screen. It was one of the worst, most distorted pieces of journalism I have ever seen, qualifying as crude propaganda. I have been in Venezuela lately and almost nothing in Rugman's rant coincides with reality. Factories are like "Soviet collectives"; a dictatorship is on the rise; Chavez is like Hitler (Rumsfeld); and the media is under government attack. The inversion of the truth throughout this travesty is demonstrated in the "coverage" of a cowed media. Venezuela is a country in which 95 per cent of the press and TV and radio are owned by the far-right. who mount unrelenting daily attacks on the government unhindered. The Latin American Murdoch, Cisneros, unfettered, controls much of it. Indeed, it is probably the most concentrated, reactionary media on earth -- but that was not worthy of a single word from Rugman.

The dishonesty of interviewing Maria Corina Machado and calling her a "human rights activist" was breathtaking. She is a leader of Sumate ('Join up'), an extreme right organisati on that was deeply involved in the 2002 coup. She met Bush in the White House shortly before the coup. There was no mention of this. Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, is dismissed as a Chavez protege", a puppet, a ludicrous description of a man who has been in polityics longer than Chavez and has just won a landslide election. No mention of this.

Chavez himself is portrayed by Rugman as a comical dictator, with his folksy Latin way (one reason ordinary people love him) taken out of any context. In fact, this highly intelligent, accessible man has overseen victory in nine democratic elections in less than eight years -- a world record. In crude Soviet-flick style, he is shown with the likes of Saddam Hussein and Gaddafy when these brief encounters only had to do with Opec and oil. (He met Saddam literally in a day-long stopover).

Chavez is said to have "torn up contracts" with foreign oil companies. The con tracts were barely legal, based on loopholes which Chavez's predecessaor Rafael Caldera exploited to give away much of Venezuela's oil, in effect; billions of dollars went into the pockets of Venezuela's wealthy minority. No mention of this.

Utter bs about Venezuela helping Iran develop a nuclear capability is sourced to "press reports" (discredited in the United States) peddled by axe-grinding outsiders, in league with Washington, along with other half-baked hearsay. There was little, apart from tokens, about the way the Chavez government has changed millions of people's lives for the better. Rugman whined that he was "held for 30 hours" by police in Caracas. Oh, how dramatic for him. This is a country threatened day and night by the United States; there was nothing from our Channel 4 hero about "Operation Bilbao", to which serious US analysts like William Arkin have given credibility and which is about overthrowing the elected government of Ve nezuela. In his brief captivity, Rugman would have learned that this is a country, although under constant military threat, and threats from within, has not a single political prisoner.

While Chavez was offered up as a clown, Condaleeza Rice was given true gravitas. I could go on, but that's enough. This was a disgrace from beginning to end. Worse, it joined the kind of hysteria in the US that is following the Bush administration's agenda of "positioning" Venezuela as a "rogue state" and a threat to US interests: in other words, softening it up for attack. If and when it comes, the Rugmans will share some of the responsibility.

John Pilger

[ian neal]

I am also a big fan of John Pilger and medialens. So it is all the more disappointing that they continue to purposely avoid the 9/11 truth movement or issuing a medialens bulletin on the unanswered questions/media bias.

And it is not because they haven't been informed of the evidence. They have

[always]

The report that may destory the CIA.

This is bad news for the Bush Administration, now they have to either attack Venezuelan, assassinate Hugo or put Bush in jail.

If Venezuelan Government completes an 9/11 Investigation it will be recognized internationally. If the report is objective enough many individuals in England, China and Canada may put even more international attention to the issue. Other european and asian countries may acknowledge the report and US media may have to acknowledge the issue and Bush administration will be in big trouble, maybe even the first no confidence vote that succeeds in US against its president. I just hope they are ready for the power of the US citizens when they realized they have been lied to and tricked.

[xmasdale]

[madthumbs]

This could all be part of the game to whitewash and confuse. It's kinda late for an investigation imho. Maybe they should just jump to presenting the verdict with the evidence.

[moeen yaseen]

The Government of Venezuela and Chavez should be saluted as true heroes of our times seeking the truth and standing up to the US fascist junta. It is also a prime example of how ALTERNATIVE strategies to move forward should be supported. As Ken Livingstone advocated it is in the UK national interest NOT to be seen as partner in crime with the US but seek alliances with those seeking truth, justice and liberation in Bolivia, Venezuela and Cuba

[Spectre]

Venezuela huh? Well that's just dandy - the Americans are sure gonna sit up and listen to those guys aren't they?

I suspect oil-enhanced Venezuela is on the list somewhere below Iran for future 'activites' by our gas-guzzling US corporate elites anyway. This little exercise may just speed things up a bit?

[Sinclair]

From a link here, found on the MediaLens messageboard.

Venezuela likely to get onto the UN Security Council

The choice is either Venezuela or US client state Guatemala

Posted on Wed, Apr. 19, 2006


UNITED NATIONS
Venezuela, Cuba likely to get U.N. spots
Despite Bush administration efforts to stop Venezuela and Cuba from joining key U.N. councils, the two nations' chances are good.
BY PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is battling to stop Venezuela and Cuba from gaining seats in important U.N. posts in a confrontation that has many Latin American nations caught in the middle, diplomats and analysts say.

Most observers believe Washington faces an uphill battle to keep Venezuela out of the Security Council and Cuba out of a newly created U.N. Human Rights Council.

COURTING NATIONS

While President Bush is generally disliked abroad, leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Cuban leader Fidel Castro have courted nations with a strong anti-U.S. discourse and offerings that range from discounted oil to free eye surgery.

The first showdown will take place May 9, when the 191-member U.N. General Assembly votes for 47 members of a new Human Rights Council. Eleven Latin American nations, including Venezuela and Cuba, are vying for eight spots reserved for the region.

Venezuela also wants to replace Argentina as one of the two Latin American members on the 15-seat Security Council. That election, to a two-year term, is expected in October.

''It is consistent with [Chávez's] quest to be a global player,'' said Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue think-tank, who noted that Chávez has supported Iran's nuclear program.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has personally appealed to countries not to vote for Venezuela, and Washington is making it clear it doesn't want Cuba or Venezuela in either U.N. agency.

''It's about ensuring that these organs in the U.N. are effective in upholding the principles of the U.N., and the membership is key,'' said Ben Chang, a spokesman for the U.S. mission before the United Nations.

The new Human Rights Council replaced the previous Commission on Human Rights, where countries accused of rights abuses such as Cuba, Iran and Zimbabwe regularly became members and then worked to stop its condemnations.

NEW COUNCIL

In March, the United Nations created the new body with tougher membership requirements and other changes. But the U.S. government, arguing the reforms did not go far enough, voted against the new council and then declined to run for a seat.

Many human rights activists and diplomats believe Cuba has a good chance of winning a seat on the council, thanks to Havana's efficient diplomatic corps and friendships with other small and poor nations.

''My guess is they'll probably get in,'' said Iain Levine, who heads the U.N. program at Human Rights Watch. ``Obviously, one is concerned when a government that violates human rights is on the council, but [the council] will be stronger than the individuals on it.''

Washington, however, would view Cuba's election as a bad sign.

''It would be an unfortunate and sad statement that it's business as usual,'' said a State Department official, who asked for anonymity to speak freely on a delicate subject.

The other Latin American countries running for council seats are Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Uruguay, according to Human Rights Watch.

Diplomats say Venezuela's bid to join the council is more of a long shot because the country sharply criticized the resolution that created it. But its chances are much better at securing a Security Council seat.

Venezuela has been campaigning for months for the post, reaching out to countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, said Imeria Nuñez de Odreman, Venezuela's acting ambassador to the United Nations.

''We are very confident we can win,'' she added.

Venezuela needs at least two-thirds of the General Assembly votes and to beat out Guatemala, a U.S.-backed candidate for one of the rotating seats on the Security Council.

Rice asked Caribbean leaders to support Guatemala's bid when she met Caribbean Community leaders last month. U.S. and Latin American diplomats say she is also likely to raise the issue when she meets Friday with Alejandro Foxley, the foreign minister of Chile, a key moderate voice in Latin American affairs.

LITTLE CHANCE

But most observers say Guatemala, despite U.S. support, has little chance of winning because it lacks Venezuela's worldwide reach.

Venezuela has 11 embassies in Africa -- a crucial voting bloc -- second only to Brazil and Cuba. And the Chávez government has aggressively used its oil wealth to gain more influence on the international stage, selling crude to Caribbean nations on easy terms, buying billions of dollars worth of bonds from Argentina and Ecuador and ordering oil tankers from Brazilian shipyards.

Shifter said the United States should be careful not to overplay its hand.

''At the end of the day, most governments would prefer to work with the United States,'' he said, ``but in a way they are not seen as apologists for the Bush administration.''

[TonyGosling]

Looks like Hugo now has the dosh to do it.

Henry Kissinger and his Associates will not be pleased.

Good on yer geezer

Venezuela to have largest oil reserves
Sat, 12 Jan 2008


Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says his country will have the largest amount of proven oil reserves in the world by the end of 2009.......

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=38509