Posted on 01/26/2006 7:13:46 PM PST by Tyche
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) - Venezuela's government is investigating members of the armed forces for allegedly passing on state secrets to the US military, officials said yesterday.
The probe comes as state-run media reports claimed the US embassy in Caracas was also involved in the affair. "Some low-level officials were sending information to the Pentagon," Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel told the Ultimas Noticias daily. El Universal newspaper quoted Rangel as saying the suspects transmitted "state secrets".
The vice-president said the suspects included both active and retired members of the Venezuelan navy.
Media reports said some of the officials involved had sought to evade the authorities, and that others were told to remain in their barracks pending completion of the probe.
The state-run regional Telesur television network claimed US naval attache John Correa had bribed the suspects, and armed forces Inspector General Melvin Lopez Hidalgo also tied US diplomatic staff to the probe.
"We have found elements that link in some manner officials of the US embassy who made contacts to seek information from members of the armed forces," he told Union radio. The US embassy declined to comment on the allegations.
"It is the policy of our government in Washington not to comment on such issues," a spokesman said.
Local media said 25 people were under investigation and that a relative of one of them was arrested, while military authorities on Sunday apparently searched the residences of several of the suspects.
I don't know which tack to take: laughter at more moobattish nonsense coming out of Venezuela, or disappointment that we got caught.
Ohhh, he's going with a Stalinish officer purge?
Stalinist Officer purge it is.
I certainly wouldn't lay any bets regarding the lifespan of any of those 25.
That would be my guess.
Chavez needs to find out what the next life is like. This is a very bad man
Lovely just lovely.
All preventable too.
A few officers who arent kissing his butt to suit him.
Yes its a purge. We have a growing dictatorship in South America.
Chavez is the one secretly spying for us, the tough, crazy guy stuff is just an act.
I sure hope the goons down there don't catch on. They might be rough on him.
Laughing...that's about as good as the BS from AllMyJihad in Iran and the nonsense propaganda from Mexico. It must be the water....
Let the show trials begin. The NYT should send some sympathetic journalist down there to tell the world how enlightened and just Chavez is.
Wow! We're spying on communists.
That's illegal, right? Bush should be impeached.
At the least, the commies should have been informed before we spied on them. And we didn't get permission from the commies at the NY Times before spying. That's two impeachment possibilities.
And we didn't get permission to spy from Hillary, Belafonte, Castro or Mao's ghost.
Bush is in big trouble.
You have far too much confidence in the honesty of the Venezuelan government. By that I mean like any totalitarian state, Venezuela makes up charges to silence people politically. Look up the fake accusations on Maria Corina Machado and Súmate, for example. I won't believe these charges just on the word of the corrupt Chavez dictatorship.
That's illegal, right? Bush should be impeached.
You have to figure the ones they caught will be tried for Treason and executed.
That's illegal, right? Bush should be impeached.
You have to figure the ones they caught will be tried for Treason and executed.
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