A staged anti-American incident in Venezuela?
Wayne Madsen on the diplomatic crisis looming between the U.S. and Venezuela over an act of anti-American 'terrorism' in Caracas:
U.S. ambassador to Venezuela William Brownfield is spinning a Venezuelan vegetable, egg, and fruit protest pelting of his motorcade as some sort of terrorist attack. The U.S. State Department complained to Venezuela's ambassador in Washington that Venezuela was in violation of the international treaty on the protection of diplomats. Spinning an unfounded conspiracy theory (they are only conspiracy theories when the left-wing cites them), State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the incident in a poor Caracas neighborhood was condoned by the city's mayor, police, and local government. McCormack vowed that the United States will not be intimidated by such attacks of vegetables, fruit, and eggs on U.S. diplomatic vehicles. U.S. embassy spokesman Brian Penn bemoaned, ''Our car is stained all over . . . the motorcyclists were throwing things at us for at least 10 minutes, and the police did nothing." Penn did not indicate whether there were any funds left in the embassy's CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency slush funds used to foment insurrections, secessionist movement, coups, street protests, and election chicanery to afford a car wash for the ambassador's car. (SOURCE)
Very amusing, Mr. Madsen. A possibility the normally canny Madsen doesn't consider, however, is that the anti-Chavez opposition organized the incident in the hope of generating bad publicity for Venezuela. Bad publicity like this, an early news report which is, incidentally, replete with lies (since no one was hurt, the incident was clearly not 'very violent' - nor is there any evidence Brownfield was at risk of being hit by anything - he was inside a limousine, for crying out loud) and this.
It is not unthinkable that the incident took place with the embassy's prior knowledge and co-operation. Indeed, as SanDiego.com points out, 'It was the third time in three weeks that Brownfield has been met by protests. Earlier, demonstrators burned tires and torched an American flag.' (SOURCE)
Something strange is going on with respect to the ambassador's movements which could well be explained by a strategy to afflict Brownfield with pseudo-incidents. According to U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Salome Hernandez, the embassy 'co-ordinates' with local authorities when the ambassador travels. (SOURCE) However, the Venezuelan security services are no longer being notified of the ambassador's movements. So which 'local authorities' is Hernandez referring to? The kind of 'local authorities' that can promptly organize an anti-U.S. demonstration? It's unlikely the U.S. embassy is going to share knowledge of the ambassador's movements with pro-Chavez forces. It seems much more likely that the 'local authorities' Hernandez is referring to - and why doesn't she say the mayor's office, if that's what she means? - are local anti-Chavez organizations. That would explain why suddenly, in the last three weeks, the ambassador's car is being met by protests. A possible motive for this series of demonstrations aimed at Ambassador Brownfield is that the Bush administration wants to fabricate a pretext to break off diplomatic relations with Venezuela. No doubt the claim will be made that the ambassador has to be withdrawn because the Venezuelan government can no longer guarantee his safety.
A few facts and observations are in order: (1) The AP video footage of the incident available on the USA Today website was filmed from the rear window of the press vehicle, one of four limousines comprising the motorcade, which means that someone was ready with a camera, waiting for the 'incident' to happen (see the video here). Question? Was the ambassador's PR stunt - he was on his way back to the embassy after presenting 'a donation to a youth baseball team at the sports center in the working-class suburb of Coche' - cooked up to provide an opportunity for the incident to take place?
BELOW: Extract from the article in the pro-American Caracas Daily Journal:
(2) Incident? What incident? The AP footage does not show any of the motorcyclists throwing anything or even being sufficiently close to the vehicles that they could have pummeled on them with their fists. (Incidentally, pounding on a moving car doesn't seem easily done from motorcycles and would in fact be somewhat risky for the motorcyclists themselves.) So far, there is no other visual evidence of the incident other than the footage taken by a member of the ambassador's party. Yet curiously the released footage doesn't show any of the incidents which the U.S. embassy is making such a fuss about. If these things had really happened, why didn't the camera(wo)man inside the press vehicle capture them on video? If s/he did, why isn't the AP and/or USA Today showing us the relevant parts of the footage? Come on people, SHOW US THE VEGETABLES!
(3) We have no idea who the motorcyclists actually were. It's entirely speculation that they were Chavez supporters.
BELOW: This 'macho' motorcyclist has got two chicks on board. Maybe they brought the vegetables:
(4) There is no evidence the incident was 'condoned' by the Venezuelan authorities. In fact, everyone from the mayor's office up has expressly repudiated it.
Although the incident in Caracas is hardly Kristallnacht, it does seem an inexpensive way to foster the view beyond U.S. ruling class circles that 'something has to be done about Chavez.' Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns has already 'warned Venezuela's ambassador that there will be "severe diplomatic consequences" if there is another incident.' (SOURCE) Why do I have a sneaking feeling that 'another incident' is only a week or two away?
BELOW: A capture from the AP footage showing two of the motorcycle riders involved in the incident. They don't seem to be throwing anything, or even trying to. In any case, they don't appear to be well stocked with fruit and vegetables.
