H03675
Headlines : InternationalChavez's US-funded rivals in the dock
Maria Corina Machado and three other members of her Sumate group – which helped organise a referendum against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez nearly a year ago – are being charged with “conspiracy to change Venezuela’s republican system”.
Machado, who has been praised by President Bush as a pro-democracy reformer, has accused the Chavez government of attempting to intimidate critics who say that his rule is becoming increasingly authoritarian.
The $31,000 grant that Sumate received from the National Endowment for Democracy, a US group that is allocated funds by the US Congress to promote democracy worldwide, seems small when one considers the level of fear that the Chavez administration creates among the free marketeers that control the United States government today.
For valuable information on Venezuela’s attempts to protect it’s sovereignity in the face of mounting US pressure while it attempts a new kind of socialist revolution please visit www.handsoffvenezuela.org.
[Posted By Ecommunist]Republished from aljazeera.net
A Venezuelan opposition figure who was received by US President George Bush is to go on trial with three colleagues accused of conspiring to change the government using US funds.
Judge Norma Sandoval ruled on Thursday that Maria Corina Machado and three other members of her Sumate group – which helped organise a referendum against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez nearly a year ago – are being charged with “conspiracy to change Venezuela’s republican system”.
The accused say left-winger Chavez’s government has trumped up the charges against them in an attempt to intimidate critics who say his rule is becoming increasingly authoritarian.
Traitor accusation
Chavez has called Machado a traitor after her Sumate group received funding from the US Congress.
The president won the August recall referendum organised by Sumate, which said the vote was plagued by irregularities and held under conditions that favoured the president.
Sandoval ordered that Machado, Alejandro Plaz, Luis Enrique Palacios and Ricardo Estevez should be tried in court but did not set a date. She ruled they could remain at liberty until the trial took place.
Despite winning a referendum, Chavez has many detractors“For us in Sumate, it’s very clear this persecution is intended to intimidate…
Posted by Ecommunist
