Did CIA back Chávez coup?A retired U.S. Coast Guard official alleges in a self-published book that

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald

Did CIA back Chávez coup?
A retired U.S. Coast Guard official alleges in a self-published book that the CIA backed Hugo Chávez's 1992 coup in Venezuela.
Posted on Sun, Apr. 13, 2008

BY GERARDO REYES
El Nuevo Herald
AND CASTO OCANDO

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has been the subject of all kinds of conspiracy theories. But this one was unforeseen: A retired U.S. Coast Guard officer alleges that the CIA supported Chávez's coup against President Carlos Andrés Pérez in 1992.

Ret. Captain Ed Geary wrote his daring version of history in a self-published book -- The Venezuelan Conspiracy: The True Story of the CIA and U.S. Coast Guard's Covert Mission to Overthrow the Government of Venezuela.

Geary, who was a goodwill advisor to the Venezuelan Coast Guard, told El Nuevo Herald that the CIA's intention was to install a puppet government in Caracas to ensure the flow of Venezuelan oil to the United States. Somehow, said Geary, the intelligence agency thought Chávez -- then an already self-avowed socialist -- would follow Washington's agenda.

In the book published late last year, Geary alleges that in November 1993 he held a meeting at Roosevelt Roads Military Base in Puerto Rico with Joseph J. Vellin, then commercial attaché with the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela.

Geary says Vellin identified himself as a CIA operative and told him the United States was backing Chávez's conspiracy to overthrow the Venezuelan government. Vellin asked Geary to provide personal information about high-ranking Venezuelan military officials, with whom Geary had developed good relationships.



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/494033.html

[SteinbachMB]

1. Nothing

would surprise me about Chavez, who would like nothing more than to be a dictator himself.

[thunder rising]

8. Damn, I'd think if your crystal ball were that good you'd be at the races making some cash.

Get a clue.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

18. Well one thing's for sure.

You did disrupt poorly.

[SpiralHawk]

2. "Smirk" - Commander AWOL, Occult Black Ops Republicon Shock & Awester Dude

"Screw Chavez. When you've got a Deserter Decider like me & my cabal of corrupt republicon cronies, he is just small beans. Smirk."

- Commander AWOL

[Judi Lynn]

3. Maybe they think this will lead people away from remembering the Bush administration engineered the

coup against Chavez.

[sam sarrha]

6. good thing Bu$hitCo only hires incompetent people, like Condi who Announced the success of the Coup ...

hours early..

[Judi Lynn]

10. They really thought they had it in the bag, didn't they? Jesus. n/t

[FreepFryer]

4. Well Bush/Contra ex-cons Elliot Abrams and Otto Reich were involved, so, I'd say 'YES'.

"Venezuela coup linked to Bush team"

The failed coup in Venezuela was closely tied to senior officials in the US government, The Observer has established. They have long histories in the 'dirty wars' of the 1980s, and links to death squads working in Central America at that time.
Washington's involvement in the turbulent events that briefly removed left-wing leader Hugo Chavez from power last weekend resurrects fears about US ambitions in the hemisphere.

It also also deepens doubts about policy in the region being made by appointees to the Bush administration, all of whom owe their careers to serving in the dirty wars under President Reagan.

One of them, Elliot Abrams, who gave a nod to the attempted Venezuelan coup, has a conviction for misleading Congress over the infamous Iran-Contra affair.

The Bush administration has tried to distance itself from the coup. It immediately endorsed the new government under businessman Pedro Carmona. But the coup was sent dramatically into reverse after 48 hours.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/apr/21/usa.venezuela

[Judi Lynn]

5. Maybe someone can interpret the meaning of this strange information.

Took a quick look for more on the author, Captain Ed Geary, found this article concerning a book the guy authored:

~snip~
Author Ed Geary closely examines the background of marine insurance fraud and the clever schemes that are used by boat owners, marine surveyors, loss adjusters, insurance brokers, and marine underwriters. ‘Gotcha’ addresses important technical issues of marine claims while providing the reader with an inside view to a number of fascinating case files.

During his five-year USCG training mission of the Venezuelan Coastguard he was elevated to the rank of Captain and was assured of further promotion to Flag Rank. During this same period he received a commssion as a Captain in the Venezuelan Coastguard forces and designated the National Policy Advisor to the Commandant of the Venezuelan Coastguard responsible for training of the Para-military Auxiliary and Reserve Commands. For his training and organizational efforts Geary was awarded the coveted Honor Merito by the Venezuelan Navy. The official ceremony and presentation of the Honor Merito Medal was presided over by Admiral Jesus Enrique Briceno Garcia, the Commanding Admiral of the Venezuelan Navy. Following his refusal to become a CIA asset (NOC) Geary’s disclosure of the Central Intelligence Agency’s clandestine Operation Deep Six to destabilize the elected government of Venezuela and install Hugo Chavez as president put him in the cross-hairs of the Agency. Silencing him became an even greater priority when Geary exposed the CIA’s involvement in the theft of high value yachts used in mindless schemes to smuggle narcotics from Colombia to the United States - ostensibly to catch the Big Guys. The tension increased when a Watergate type Deep Throat emerged from the shadows of Washington and CNN International aired the story. The CIA agent who had been orchestrating the Agency’s operations from the American Embassy in Caracas soon disappeared. Six months later an investigative reporter from Miami found the ex-government agent working in an apple orchard in Washington State.

More:
http://www.gotcha-edgeary.com/pages/1/index.htm

On edit, adding photo of Ed Geary:

[AP]

I've read a few places that business class supported Chavez's '89 election because they assumed he'd

be a great puppet (because of his military background) -- that he was only interested in power and wealth.

They didn't expect him to actually implement socialist policy.

It was a real bait and switch for Chavez.

[Judi Lynn]

9. Really! Were they ever in for a surpise. Looks as if it never occurred to them that some of the men

in the military might not have WANTED to open fire on the poor people of Caracas who poured into the streets in protest of the President Carlos Andres Perez' radical increases to basic human services like bus transportation to work, and the grocery stores, and the cost of food, heating oil, etc., etc.

Suddenly they couldn't afford to live even as the POOR of Venezuela any longer. They had nowhere to go but to cry out in pain about it. Perez had an answer: send out the troops to fire point blank into crowds of unarmed protesters.

Funny how we never heard a peep about this "El Caracazo" massacre here, when it happened in 1989. 3,000 people were killed. Government workers buried some of them in open graves, while insisting it had only slaughtered, oh, maybe 300! That, of course, is on the LOW side, as conventional sources seem to agree it was around, maybe over 3,000.

Carlos Andres Perez WAS one of those greedy people interested in power and wealth, to the point he stuffed as much Venezuelan cash into his pants as he could manage, waddling off with 17,000,000 more than he legally earned, and was impeached and imprisoned, "his own danged self" before it was over.

He has always been embraced and beloved by the oligarchy, and happily travels around to his homes in Colombia, New York, and Miami, and gives interviews like the one in which he asserted Hugo Chavez should be shot "like a dog."

I've seen it written that there was a group of Venezuelan military officers who simply balked at the thought of gunning down citizens, and that's when they started their plans to get Perez out of there.

For the poor of Venezuela, their own movement, their resistance started at that time, as well, to move steadily away from conditions which would EVER allow a Venezuelan president to do that to them again.

Thanks for your insight on the earlier support he got from his current enemies in the country.

[AP]

7. I've read a few places that business class supported Chavez's '89 election because they assumed he'd

be a great puppet (because of his military background) -- that he was only interested in power and wealth.

They didn't expect him to actually implement socialist policy.

It was a real bait and switch for Chavez.

[bemildred]

11. Come come, when have the steely-eyed heroes at the CIA ever done

anything illegal or made foolish mistakes?

[peacetalksforall]

12. I guess I didn't know that much about the background of Chavez, however what

is significant to me is that there are way too many stories of this cadre of operators in the leadership of our government who are or are reported to have made 'deal's with certain leaders all over the world and then it goes sour and there is alternating betrayal and revenge. Well, is there a wakened Chavez? Instead of screwing the country by an alliance with our leaders, he considered the people of his country? And said screw you to ExCon ChevCon MoBill and Beep Peep as well as Otto and Eliot and all the Spanish speaking facilitators who conveniently live and operate in Venezuela?

[bluesmail]

13. sounds like Chavez is blowback, sans CIA training

[fighterdem6]

14. I would not doubt it

They aided in the assassination of that guy in the 60's, why not in Venezuela?

[JohnnyCougar]

15. Wierd. I doubt this is true.

It's probably a red herring to distract attention from the CIA backing the un-democratic coup of Chavez in 2002. It's meant to make Chavez look bad to his South American followers. The new MO on Chavez is that they are trying to attack Chavez's base by saying he doesn't actually work for the poor, etc.

[Judi Lynn]

16. I thought about what you said myself. We DO know Bush is up to his bloodshot eyes in that coup April

2002. Odd time for this story to get published in the Miami right-wing-Cuban-reactionary-pandering Herald, isn't it? South Florida was the home of the largest CIA station in the world for a long time, as we've all read.

It's doubtful there's ANYTHING which is published in the Miami Herald without having a purpose which benefits the right-wing extremist faction. That's the town which threw a joint Cuban/Venezuela expatriot anti-Chavez parade on the same day the entire world turned out to massively protest _{George Bush's} impending invasion of Iraq and slaughter of its citizens.

Also, nothing shows up anywhere else on this!

Very strange article from a strange bunch of "news" people in Miami. (Remember it wasn't that long ago that it was discovere 20 Miami "journalists" were engaged in taking government money to write propaganda concerning Cuba for the _Bush adminstration .)

[stimbox]

17. Sounds like classic dis-info to make Chavez look bad. n/t