White House and Media Escalate War of Words Against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

Interview with Eva Gollinger, attorney reporting from Caracas, Venezuela, conducted by Scott Harris

Although the left has gained ground throughout Latin America, with the recent election of progressive heads of state in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and most recently Uruguay, the White House has singled out populist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as the region's most potentially unstable government and "a threat to democracy." Since President Bush's re-election victory last November, his administration has been engaged in an escalating war of words against Venezuela, the fourth largest supplier of crude oil to the U.S.

The Bush administration is widely believed to have played a supporting role in the April 2002 coup against Chavez, later reversed by a popular uprising. Since then, Washington has helped finance groups that organized last August's failed national recall referendum aimed at forcing the populist president from office. Chavez, who now has won two presidential elections and six referendums, is expected to run for re-election when his current term ends in 2006.

Recent attacks from Washington include charges that Venezuela's new media law will silence Chavez's critics and the government's plan to purchase arms from Russia and patrol planes from Brazil constitutes a regional threat. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Eva Gollinger, an attorney and investigative reporter currently in Caracas, who assesses the Bush administration's renewed campaign to challenge the government of Hugo Chavez.

Read Eva Gollinger's articles online at www.venezuelaanalysis.com or www.VenezuelaFOIA.info

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