Michael Rowan
Special for El Universal
There are two inquiries in the U.S. House of Representatives
that will gather facts about the U.S. role in charged conspiracies
to overthrow the Chavez government. The first is House Resolution
867 by Representatives Lantos, Hyde, Berman and Gallegly of
the House Committee on International Relations expressing
support for the work of the National Endowment for Democracy
in Venezuela; and the second is an amendment to a spending
bill approved in December, by Representative Serrano of New
York, directing the NED to say what it's been doing in Venezuela.
The resolution was proposed to clarify that the 2003 NED
grant of $53,400 to Sumate, the voter rights NGO, is not proof
of a conspiracy by the NED to overthrow the Chavez government,
but is exactly what it purports to be: a grant by the NED
similar to thousands of others it made in 80 countries, to
help fund voter education workshops. The amendment by Rep.
Serrano, apparently entered in response to the resolution,
was hailed by the Chavez regime as support for its view that
the US was behind the April, 2002 resignation or removal of
Chavez from the presidency, and a handful of other "conspiracies"
including many presumed assassination attempts against Chavez,
the recall referendum, and the killing of prosecutor Danilo
Andersen.
Congressional hearings in 2005 on these issues would be an
eye-opener. As opposed to the Chavez regime, the U.S. Congress
looks at facts before coming to a conclusion. The Chavez regime
can present its case for which it has no facts, only political
conclusions that satisfy its anti-American prejudices. The
result is going to be a big surprise for the Chavez regime,
which is accustomed to a rubber-stamp national assembly and
pliant supreme court to obey their boss. The NED has been
attempting to enter accounting evidence of its work in Venezuela
for months, but was stopped by Chavez courts that did not
want to hear it. Now the Chavez regime is applauding the Serrano
directive to the NED to do the same thing. The Chavez regime
is about to learn that Representatives Lantos and Hyde have
been in the fact-finding business for a long time, that they
chair their committee without intimidation, that they do not
take orders from Chavez, and that they will find the truth.
mrowan@cantv.net
Michael Rowan's column is published every Tuesday
