2 - 8 May 2002
Issue No.584
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 2 - 8 May 2002 Issue No.584 |
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The skeleton's out of the closet
A failed coup d'état in Venezuela should be a warning to Arab regimes that the CIA's "dirty tricks" division is very likely back in action, writes Ayman El-Amir*
The demise and resurrection of Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez in a failed weekend military coup in mid-April did not escape the attention of media professionals or the public at large. But its wider implications have not yet been fully explored -- particularly in terms of the rickety Middle East region.
Of course, politicians and the media have been understandably preoccupied with Mr Sharon's war games against the Palestinians. Nevertheless, recent events in Venezuela are less politically distant than geography would suggest.
The big question for political pundits is whether or not the attempted coup against the democratically-elected president of Venezuela smacks of CIA involvement. If so, the question arises as to whether the Bush administration has decided to take out one of the most infamous skeletons in the US closet and reactivate the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)'s time-honoured weapon of "covert operations" as part of the awesome arsenal of weapons it has assembled in its crusade against terrorism. This deserves more than a passing interest for several regimes in the Middle East.
"Covert operations" as a US intelligence doctrine first came up with in the late 1940s and was perfected in the 1960s and 1970s, during a peak season of national liberation struggles for independence. It was used to undermine or overthrow nationalist leaders whose agendas appeared to pose a threat to the national interest of the United States. The doctrine was particularly, but not exclusively, applied in Latin America. It also extended to Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East.
The methods of covert operations have ranged from destabilisation of established governments to the orchestration of military coups; from the incitement of civil riots to the outright murder of opponents. Some of the most notorious "successes stories" included the coup d'état in Iran (1953), the military coup in Guatemala (1954), the overthrow and subsequent assassination of President Salvadore Allende in Chile (1973) and the hunting down and murder of revolutionary leader Che Guevara in Bolivia (1967). One prominent setback was the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, organised by the CIA in 1961.
The CIA usually received the green-light to carry out these and other covert operations under the executive authority of the president of the United States --until, that is, President Jimmy Carter, a southern Christian Baptist, issued an Executive Order in 1979 enjoining the CIA from such immoral practices.
President Chavez's personality and political record is a leaf out of the history book of national liberation leaders of the 1960s. His actions and rhetoric, far from endearing him to Washington, made him an excellent candidate for a textbook CIA-engineered military coup.
Consider the body of evidence. Unlike past presidents of Venezuela, who pumped as much oil as the United States could guzzle, Chavez committed Venezuela to OPEC's-mandated quotas. He visited Libya, Iraq and Iran -- countries which are not exactly on the best of terms with the US.
To add insult to injury, he has close ties with Fidel Castro and he reportedly supports the leftist guerrillas in Colombia. At home, his agenda focuses on closing the gap between the rich and the poor, the latter representing more than 80 per cent of Venezuela's population, according to World Bank figures.
Some sceptics even noted that the coup against President Chavez occurred in the same week Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced the suspension of oil exports, in response to mass demonstrations in the Middle East protesting Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians. Last but not least, he was a strong critic of the United States' war against Afghanistan.
In conducting its "war against terrorism", following the 11 September terrorist disaster, the Bush administration has made it known to everyone that it is armed and dangerous. Not only has it named and put on notice the members of "the axis of evil" club, it has also demanded that its "friends" in the Arab world take an unconditional oath of allegiance to the United States' proclaimed crusade against terrorism, including suicide bombings of Israeli targets.
A bi-partisan resolution of solidarity with Israel was recently tabled in the US Senate by Senators Joseph Lieberman (Democratic) and Gordon Smith (Republican). It seeks to condemn suicide bombings and urges all Arab countries, particularly Egypt and Saudi Arabia, "to declare their categorical opposition to all forms of terrorism, especially suicide bombings." In tabling the resolution, Senator Lieberman said the Senate "is committed to backing Israel's right to self-defence."
Building on the fresh lessons from the Chavez experience, few analysts can fail to see a parallel in the Middle East. CIA-sponsored covert operations have at least one highly visible candidate: President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Recently, US President George W Bush emphatically declared that Saddam will have to go. "But don't ask me how or when," said Bush.
Other less visible targets would be Syria and Iran. The two are patrons and supporters of Hizbullah resistance against Israel's transgressions against Lebanon. Both countries refuse to accept the United States' agenda of the "war against terrorism" without raising serious questions.
On the same scale, intimidation tactics continue against Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and Somalia. In the aftermath of 11 September, US psychological warfare, which ran parallel to the military campaign against Afghanistan, made the poignant argument that the suicidal perpetrators came primarily from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The intimidation campaign sought to inculcate a sense of collective guilt among Arabs and Muslims, and a shared responsibility among their governments.
Israel manipulated the situation to piggy-back on the US campaign against terrorism by creating an analogy between its war against Palestinian militants, including suicide bombers, and the US-declared "war on terrorism." If all options are open to the United States in the war against terrorism, then covert operations come in as a handy weapon to unseat adamant foes and sway recalcitrant allies.
Conspiracy theories, we are told, are endemic to the Arab region. As expected, the CIA has distanced itself from the Friday-to-Sunday crucifixion and resurrection of President Chavez (he was overthrown on Friday and reinstated on Sunday). A Cuban diplomat, quoted in the official Havana daily Granma, reduced the conspiracy theory to its bare bones, saying "It is well-known that in this part of the world, the coup d'état recipe always requires US backing. Either coups are organised from there or they are sponsored and protected by the Yankees." For now, it seems, both the Arab peoples and their leaders have a lot of writing on the wall to watch.
* The writer is a former correspondent for Al-Ahram in Washington, DC. He has also served as Director of United Nations Radio and Television in New York.
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