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Column 081511 Brewer

Monday, August 15, 2011 Subterfuge and the Dictatorial Reign of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela By Jerry Brewer The self-inherited revolution of Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, from decades of Cubas failures, has done little in the past 12 years to further the expectations of Venezuelan citizens for a good quality of life and peaceful existence. Venezuela continues to show declines in promised prosperity from the Chavez regime as his words alone have demonstrated to be without much relevance to such adversities. Currency devaluations, rampant inflation, poverty, deteriorating infrastructure, and related calamities have significantly weakened Chavezs usual verbose rhetoric. Venezuela is seriously facing much more than just social and economic misfortune. Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma summed up Chavezs broader vision to centralize power, accusing him of ignoring the Constitution and trampling on the rule of law. Too, he stated that Chavez tries to undermine popularly elected officials. Chavezs consistent and most popular theme against Venezuelan and international critics of his administration is consistently regurgitated in anti-United States quips. His unfounded mocking attacks on home grown opponents accuse their coalition is of the United States. His socialist agenda does not allow him to clearly see the fragmented numbers and disengagement

of Venezuelans who must survive and look ahead to the future of their families. President Chavez frequently retreats from opposition dialog and his opponents political movements by denouncing capitalism, saying its a terrible crisis they have. He accused his critics of attacking the armed forces and following orders of imperialism, trying to divide them and demoralizing them. He warned opponents to leave the military alone, exacerbating the threat by telling the military to report any provocations to state intelligence agencies and to remain unified. In clearly an act of dictatorship, Chavez told the military to be ready for any possible conflict like those in Libya and Syria. In what has been described as Venezuelas 21st century socialist experiment, Chavezs severely inflated and over-armed military has been his main support and leaning post in difficult times. Furthermore, Russia is providing a $4 billion loan to Venezuela for more arms deals and unexplained other purposes. However, it appears certain that this will not provide food, housing or much needed infrastructure for Venezuelan citizens. Top Venezuelan military and government officials have long been suspected of heavy involvement in the drug trade. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported their suspicions and findings. Chavez booted the U.S. DEA out of Venezuela in 2005, accusing them of spying and conspiring to bring down his regime. This, a departure from the frequent accusations of the CIA attempting to do the same thing, as well as harm him. The CIA has been a scapegoat for Chavez with what appears to be everything he is informed about or reads that doesnt support his agenda much like a play out of Fidel Castros decades of crying wolf to keep the proverbial sheepherders of the world vigilant on his wellbeing. The Miraflores Palace where Chavez hangs his red beret is well inundated with soldiers and assorted bodyguards. Venezuelas active role in the smuggling of drugs throughout Latin America, as well as European routes via Africa, has allowed drug cartels and their soldiers to

accelerate and expand rapidly. The U.S. State Department reported that Chavezs refusal to cooperate with U.S. authorities in counter-drug efforts was exacerbating the problem. Their report stated that Venezuela remains a major drug transit country with high levels of corruption and a weak judicial system. An International Narcotics Control Strategy report stated, growing illicit drug transshipments through Venezuela are enabled by Venezuelas lack of cooperation. The lack of cooperation in anti-drug enforcement by Venezuela has undoubtedly led and contributed to the reported more than 40% of all cocaine shipments to Europe, via Africa, as going through Venezuela. The U.S., and its budget, have been enormously impacted by this consistent drug flow north to Mexico and beyond. Chavez has tried to pacify critics with nominal extraditions of drug criminals. Sidebar to that above, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns will visit Mexico this week, to address such issues as regional cooperation, confronting shared challenges and security. As well, the Tri-Border Area (TBA) of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay in South America actively remains a major U.S. intelligence concern. The Hezbollah population in the TBA correlates to their spreading across west Africa. The territory known in northwest Africa as Maghreb is also home to Al-Qaeda, and it's a staging area for drug shipments and massive profit. From major drug transshipments and drug profits, to Iran increasing its activities in Latin America as well as Hugo Chavezs relationship with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, all call for extreme vigilance. And Venezuelans must stay focused with reality in mind as Chavez remains in power. Jerry Brewer is C.E.O. of Criminal Justice International Associates, a global threat mitigation firm headquartered in northern Virginia. His website is located at www.cjiausa.org. TWITTER: cjiausa