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7/27/2019 traduccion 22
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Opposition discusses plans with foreign diplomats
T/ COI
P/ Agencies
Over the weekend, investigative journalist Jose Vicente Rangel warned of
backroom opposition attempts to prevent another election win for Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez. Citing a private meeting between members of
opposition coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) and Caracas based
diplomats from the United States and Spain, among others, Rangel warned of
ongoing efforts to convince the international community that anti -Chavez
candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski is set to win the October 7th election.
Inflating expectations in the press, Rangel explained, MUD strategists intend tocarry out the recently-uncovered Rapid Reaction Plan, a violent post-election
strategy made public late last week by Chavez Campaign Coordinator Jorge
Rodriguez. Speaking to viewers on Sunday during his weekly television
program Jose Vicente Hoy, former Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente
Rangel warned of suspicious opposition positioning in the final weeks of the
2012 presidential campaign. Referring specifically to a September 12 meeting
held at the private residence of opposition gubernatorial candidate RichardMardo, Rangel explained
How representatives of the Venezuelan opposition tried convincing foreign
diplomats that Capriles is set to win the October 7 election, even if only by a
small margin. According to the investigate journalist, special guests at the
private meeting included Paolo Serpi, Antonio Perez- Hernandez, and Luis
Raygada Souza- Ferreira, the Caracas based Ambassadors of Italy, Spain,
and Peru, respectively. James Der ham, the top US diplo mat in Venezuela, as
well as Pietro Parolin, the Vaticans highest authority in country, also attended
the luncheon. Brazils Ambassador in Caracas, Jose Antonio Marcondes de
Carvalho, turned down the invitation. In addition to Richard Mardo, the MUDs
candidate for Governor of Aragua State, those representing the Venezuelan
opposition at the meeting were Luis Miquilena, an open supporter of the 2002
coup d etat against President Chavez, Marcel Granier, Managing Director of
radical opposition media network Radio Caracas de Televisin (RCTV), and
Carlos Bardasano, member of private media giant Venevisins Board of
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Directors. According to Rangel, Mardo used the backroom meeting to express
his total lack of confidence in the National Elections
Council (CNE) and promise those present that he and his people are
prepared to take to the streets, using both motorcyclists and civilian groups to
combat the Chavistas. What was most surprising about the meeting, Rangel
said, was how some of those in attendance cautiously requested further
information while others made worrying affirmations and expressed their firm,
radical positions.
Private news media including opposition dailies El Universal and Noticias 24
also reported on the meeting, stating that Mardo and the others simply had
gathered to analyze Venezuelas electoral situation. RAPID REACTION
PLAN In addition to the troubling talks between foreign diplomats and the
MUD, National Coordinator for the Chavez Campaign Jorge Rodriguez recently
denounced what he called n irresponsible right-wing extremists within the
(oppositions) Campaign who have developed and circulated a document that
details plans to cause political unrest in the aftermath of next months
presidential election. Titled the Rapid Reaction Plan, the document is said to
have been prepared by Alejandro Plaz, former Director of Sumate, the US
financed NGO tasked with
Fomenting a greater opposition presence in Venezuelan politics.In the context
of next monthsvote, the authors of the Rapid Reaction Plan discuss criteria for
selecting key sites to be taken over, Rodriguez explained. These sites include
national and regional freeways, major avenues, emblematic plazas, Governors
and Mayors offices, strategic non-civilian pointsmeaning military installations
news media offices, ports, and airports. What do ports and airports have to do
with voting centers? he asked. What do military installations have to do with
an election booth, with an electoral contest?
Warning the Venezuelan people to watch out for possible opposition violence,
Rodriguez added, this plan describes nothing more than a desperate minority
looking to react to a pending Chavez victory. MAJORITY WITH CHAVEZ
Consistent with polls reflecting a double-digit lead for President Chavez, butsurprising to many in Venezuelas anti-Chavez minority, Rodriguez also made
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public an email written by opposition lawmaker Julio Borges in which the
Capriles ally affirmed the majority of peopleare with the ruling candidate
(Chavez), and this is something that cant be denied. Not just any politician,
Borges is the National Coordinator of Capriles Primero Justicia (PJ) Party. Sent
to Miami-based, anti-
Chavez blogger Eric Ekvall, who suggested to Borges that the opposition
should claim fraud after the October election, the email includes Borges telling
Ekvall that, in Venezuela, claims of fraud are simply an urban myth elections
are won through the vote. Henrique (Capriles) is struggling against a tide that
doesnt allow itself be penetrated, Borges wrote. In response to the messages
content, Borges denied having any contact at all with Ekvall and claimed the
email address cited by Rodriguez ([email protected]) is an account that
doesnt exist, and never has. Investigative journalist Mario
Silva, on the other hand, followed up on Borges denials by showing two
different articles written by the right-wing lawmaker and published in
Venezuelan dailies El Universal (23 April 2008) and
Ultimas Noticias (19 July 2009). Both pieces, analyses that advocate an end to
the Chavez administration, were signed by Borges and included his
aforementioned email address.