US Prepares for Overthrow of VenezuelaRigged polling, coordinated Western propaganda campaign, and open conspiracy to install Henrique Capriles Radonski as head of new Western client-regime. Image: CFRs Center for Preventative Actions Contingency Planning Memo #6 is in reality a blueprint for meddling in Venezuelas elections and providing a framework to further undermine the government of President Hugo Chavez should he win another term in office. The .pdf can be found archived here. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a think tank representing the collective interests and policies of the unelected, supranational corporate-financier interests that fund it, has issued a Contingency Planning Memorandum (.pdf) directed toward the South American nation of Venezuela which states the following: In the coming months, Venezuela could experience significant political unrest and violence that lead to the further curtailment of democracy in the country. Presidential elections are scheduled to take place on October 7, 2012. President Hugo Chavez is in the midst of a tough reelection campaign against Henrique Capriles Radonskithe young and energetic governor of the state of Mirandawho enjoys multiparty support and appears to have a better chance of defeating the incumbent than earlier challengers. Over the course of the past year, Chavez and several of his most senior associates have asserted that there will be instability and violence if he is not reelected. At the same time, Chavez is battling cancer, but he has shared little information with the public about the state of his health beyond the fact that he has twice been treated for the disease since spring 2011. Speculation about Chavezs health problems has generated considerable uncertainty among his supporters, especially since he has not anointed a successor. Should Chavez appear to be losing the election, die suddenly, or withdraw from public life for health reasons, tensions are likely to rise in Venezuela, especially if the public suspects that Chavez has used extra-constitutional means to preclude or invalidate an opposition victory in order to sustain his regimes hold on power. Protests over such actions, which could turn violent, may in turn lead to the imposition of martial law and the further curtailment of democratic rights in Venezuela. This would almost certainly trigger a major political crisis in the Western Hemisphere that pits countries seeking to restore democracy and the rule of law in Venezuelaincluding the United Statesagainst those who support Chavez and the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of other states. Longstanding U.S. efforts to promote good governance in Latin America as well as cooperation on a range of political, economic, and security challenges in the region would be threatened as a consequence. Accordingly, the United States should seek free and fair elections in Venezuela. If Chavez or a replacement candidate is defeated, it should offer to help promote an orderly, peaceful transition. If Chavez is reelected in a process judged acceptably free and fair, the United States should seek to reset the bilateral relationship with an eye toward the eventual renewal of high-level communication on areas of mutual interest. If the election results appear fraudulent or apparently legitimate results are nullified, the United States should encourage international pressure to restore democracy and suspend bilateral business as usual until a legitimate government is restored. Ironic indeed that one of the many co-conspirators involved in the US-backed 2002 coup attempt against Hugo Chavez government, is the current candidate running against him this year for the Venezuelan presidency. Indeed, Henrique Capriles Radonski was arrested and implicated numerous times for his role during the 2002 orchestrated unrest, the same unrest the CFR predicts will rack the country this year should their proxy candidate not smoothly enter into office. In 2002, as mayor of Baruta, Radonski failed to protect the Cuban embassy located within his jurisdiction, and his police even arrested President Chavez Interior Minister, Ramon Rodriguez Chacin. Now, the West is attempting to lay the groundwork for a repeat performance. The rhetoric under which overt, most likely armed violence will be carried out, hinges on a singular, very predictable talking point permeating the Western corporate media that is, that twice elected Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will lose upcoming elections and plans on stealing them. Some sample headlines include: The Daily Beast: The Last Chance for Hugo Chavez in Venezuela: Provides a litany of baseless anecdotes to depict President Chavez as a declining, unpopular, crass alternative to the refined proxy-candidate, Radonski. Newsweek ensures that readers are aware that Radonski is of Jewish descent and that relatives of his perished in Nazi concentration camps to add for him a layer of political immunity before Western audiences. Newsweek also implies that a victory for President Chavez would depend on the old magician to prevail with a trick. Daily Globe and Mail: Decision time for Chavez the democrat: Implies that President Chavez loss is inevitable and that he must prove his dedication to democracy by gracefully bowing out. Other headlines include, Have Venezuelans tired of the Chavez revolution?, Fears abound ahead of close Venezuelan elections, Election system in Venezuela: High tech, but low trust, and many more, all echoing talking points laid out long ago by the CFR, the Heritage Foundation, and other corporate-financier funded policy think tanks with a direct stake in installing Radonski as head of their planned client-state. This is based solely on recent numbers supplied by the suspect polling organization, Consultores 21 almost exclusively cited by the Western media, and without qualification, repeatedly referred to as respected. After holding a solid lead over Radonski throughout the entire campaign, Chavez has suddenly slipped in Consultores 21s poll numbers just in time for a coordinated propaganda push by the West claiming he is preparing to now steal the elections. To defend democracy in Venezuela while advancing U.S. interests and values, the Obama Administration should: Support Venezuelan civil society. Despite restrictive Venezuelan laws, the U.S. should increase its democracy assistance to civil society and NGOs by working to train domestic electoral observers, urge voter participation, coordinate collection and tabulation of voting results, and encouraging all polling stations to report electoral infractions to the CNE and the MUD. Conduct systematic public diplomacy. The Administration should prepare a public diplomacy brief examining the erosion of democracy and the unfair advantages accumulated by Chvez. It should report the fact that electoral conditions are far from fair. Reaffirm principles of democracy. President Obama and Secretary Clinton should speak out on democratic principles and the commitment to full democracy, not merely holding elections, in the Americas, highlighting what is at stake in Venezuela, urging citizen participation and transparency, and holding Chvez accountable for the preservation of peace. Dispatch U.S. observers. The U.S. embassy in Caracas should send its staff in a systematic fashion to monitor the elections on October 7, and Washington should assign additional State Department officers to temporary duty in Caracas. Call for bipartisan monitoring. The Administration should call on the State Department to assemble a high-level working group of analysts, congressional staff, academics, and electoral experts to monitor and evaluate the election and its outcome. Heed early warning signs of violence and instability. The Administration should closely monitor the situation in Venezuela on October 7 for evidence of incitement to violence by political parties, harassment of or harm to opposition figures, reprisals against voters, distribution of arms to militias, and increases in politically-related violence. Establish a coalition for Venezuelan democracy. The U.S. should employ active diplomacy to establish a coalition of democratic leadersone that could certainly include Canada, Costa Rica, Panama, Chile, Spain, the United Kingdom, and othersto act in unison in case of fraud or violence. Continue support for democracy. Although the defeat of Capriles would clearly demoralize many Venezuelans, the U.S. must nonetheless continue to offer sustained support for civil society, a free press, free labor unions, and other voices for liberty and preserve the resilience of a unified opposition for future elections. Appoint a high-level Cuba/Venezuela Mission Director. The position of Cuba/Venezuela Mission Director in the Office of the National Intelligence Director should be filled with a senior-level official with responsibility for all ALBA countries. Develop an aggressive, proactive plan of action. October 8 will mark the starting point for one of two courses: either one of sustained cooperation and support for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela or one of tough, proactive responses to Chvezs promised radicalization. Potential policy tools for leverage include visa denials, further Treasury designations of corrupt Venezuelan officials, financial and trade sanctions, interdiction of Venezuelan vessels and aircraft used to transport drugs, the designation of Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism, and an embargo on the purchase of Venezuelan oil. All of these tools should be considered in the event of electoral fraud, significant electoral violence, or hostile acts contrary to U.S. security interests. Center for International Private Enterprise GOLOS and the Battle Cry of Stolen Elections Image: NEDs official website lists an astounding number of proxy-organizations it is funding to conduct subversive activities across the Russian Federation. GOLOS is just one of many NGOs funded by the United States government, overseen by the US Embassy in Moscow, Russia, and used to meddle in the sovereign internal affairs of their nation. Likewise in Venezuela, a troupe of foreign-funded subversive organizations is coordinating efforts with the Western press to overthrow the political order of Hugo Chavez and install a client-regime of their own design. In Russias case, even President Putins opponents had no doubt that he would soundly win the elections, yet they and their Western backers decided to call the elections stolen regardless. The purpose of this was to justify long-planned and organized street mobs, protests, and other subversive activities meant to further build up a client-opposition movement inside Russia, using stolen elections, however ridiculous, as a unifying battle cry. These same claims of rigged elections and the illegitimacy of the current government have even been used by the West in defending a increasingly violent resurgence of terrorism in Russias Caucasus region. In a similar manner, the widely popular Hugo Chavez has defeated his opponents at the ballot box and against their covert, violent attempts to overthrow his government on numerous occasions. It is unlikely that a US-trained lawyer representing foreign interests is about to unseat Chavez in an election, but like in Russia, the doubt needs to be planted in the minds of the global public to justify the US-engineered unrest that has been long-planned. As in Russia with the West attempting to justify terrorism as a result of an illegitimate government coming to power, a similar scenario, using heavily armed mercenaries to seize upon post-election, US State Department-subsidize hysteria, is not beyond the realm of possibilities for Venezuela. What to Watch Out For Image: Bangkok, Thailand, April 10, 2010. Wall Street-proxy Thaksin Shinawatras mobs took to the streets, providing cover for armed militants dressed in black, purposefully using M-16 rifles to target protesters and security forces alike. The result was a deadly crossfire used to this day by the West to portray the government as guilty of brutalizing peaceful pro-democracy protesters. This tactic has been repeatedly used around the world as the centerpiece of covert destabilization, in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, and even once already in Venezuela in 2002. For an instructive, signed confession of the various options the US indeed uses around the world to subvert and overthrow sovereign governments, readers are encouraged to read the Brookings Institutions Which Path to Persia? report. Full analysis of each option has been given (and here), and it is very easy to see how these options can be easily arrayed against Venezuela as well. Everything from funding terrorist organizations, to buying off the military, to organizing staged street protests with covert military operations conducted in tandem are fully admitted to and now have been demonstrably carried out against Iran. By reading the report and understanding that many of these options have already been considered and put into motion against Venezuela as well, according to the CFR, Heritage Foundation, and NED, it would serve as an instructive document to inoculate our perception with before the Western media expands its coordinated propaganda campaign against Venezuela, both pre- and post-election. RELATED ACTIVIST POST ARTICLE: linkwithin_text=Related Articles: 