Chavez foes facing trial to get more U.S. funding

[NNN0LHI]

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-09-14T155626Z_01_DIT456306_RTRIDST_0_INTERNATIONAL-VENEZUELA-FUNDS-1-DC.XML&archived=False

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan activists facing trial for receiving money from a U.S.-financed organization to promote a vote last year against President Hugo Chavez have gotten the group's approval for additional funding, representatives said on Wednesday.

A Venezuelan judge last month ordered four members of the Sumate civil association -- which backed the 2004 referendum against Chavez -- tried for conspiracy after they received a grant last year from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

The endowment is a nongovernmental organization funded by the U.S. Congress to promote democracy internationally.

New Sumate financing could fuel already tense relations between Washington and Chavez, an ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro who often clashes with U.S. officials over his self-proclaimed socialist revolution in oil exporter Venezuela.

[zbdent]

1. Do they have Pat Robertson's phone number on speed dial?

They probably need a lawyer in the worst way . . .