U.S. missionaries leave Venezuela outposts (Chavez orders them away from uranium deposits)

Miami Herald ^ | February 9, 2006 | NATALIE OBIKO PEARSON

[Cincinatus' Wife]

CARACAS, Venezuela - U.S. missionaries accused by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of espionage have been forced from their remote outposts among jungle tribes by a government order, the final pair leaving Thursday after years of evangelical work.

The New Tribes Mission flew those two out of the rain forest to regroup with other missionaries in the eastern city of Puerto Ordaz. There they will decide what to do next: leave the country or continue with a legal battle seeking to overturn the government's order to expel them from indigenous areas by Sunday.

Most of the group's missionaries are Americans. Since late January, nearly 40 have pulled out and headed to the group's base in Puerto Ordaz ahead of the Sunday deadline, said Marco Brito, a spokesman for the missionaries.

"They're all shattered, some of them depressed," Brito said, noting one Canadian woman has been working for more than 40 years with the remote Yanomami tribe in the Amazon rain forest.

"But it's not a complete disaster. We'll see what happens. Many are waiting to see what the court decides," he added.

The Supreme Court is set to consider a request by the group to annul the expulsion order, though Britto said that it was unclear when the case could be heard and or how long it could take for a decision.

Chavez announced in November that New Tribes missionaries would be expelled from the country. But the actual Interior Ministry order printed later in the official gazette said only that the missionaries had to leave indigenous areas. It is not yet clear whether the government will now insist that the missionaries leave the country altogether.

Chavez has accused the Sanford, Fla.-based group of using its presence in remote, mineral-rich areas to spy for foreign mining and pharmaceutical interests and collect "strategic information" for the CIA.

The government has yet to provide evidence to back its claims, but the allegations revived long-held suspicions about the missionaries' activities in their isolated settlements.

The group denies the accusations and has offered to open its jungle missions to government inspectors to dispel suspicions.

Interior Minister Jesse Chacon has said the group operates in an area that contains uranium deposits - of interest to foreign countries for their nuclear potential. He has claimed the missionaries use sophisticated computers, satellite transmitters and other equipment unnecessary for evangelical work. New Tribes is a Protestant evangelical organization that specializes in working among 3,000 indigenous groups in the world's most remote areas. It has been in Venezuela since 1946.

Chavez has frequently clashed with the Bush administration, accusing it of being behind attempts to undermine his government. Tensions have run particularly high since last week, when Venezuela barred a U.S. Embassy official from returning to the country, saying the naval attache had been involved in spying. Washington expelled a Venezuelan diplomat in response.

On Thursday, Chavez called President Bush a "madman" and accused the United States and Britain of planning to invade Iran, Venezuela's closest ally in the Middle East.

ON THE NET

New Tribes Mission: http://www.ntm.org/venezuela/

Venezuelan Embassy in U.S.: http://www.embavenez-us.org/

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Earlier post

[WayneS]

Hey, everyone knows we need to protect uranium deposits from those radical Christians.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

'New populists' vs. the West - Iran and Venezuela forge a political counterweight to US power***WASHINGTON – Some might call it the axle of anti-American populism.

With linchpins in Tehran on one end and Caracas on the other, a new brand of international populism is rising by fanning flames of division between Western powers and the "powerless" of the developing world.

Leaders, from Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez, are winning points at home by striking a nationalist and anti-American pose. Their method: Use the international stage to rail against what they see as a disconnect between the values espoused by the world's sole superpower and its actions. .............................***

[livius]

Everyone knows we need to keep anybody from seeing what Hugo's up to with his uranium deposits.

[sono]

So El Gordo wishes to keep his uranium safe for his Iranian buds, eh? Nothin like a few Christians to get in the way.

[devolve]

[Beckwith]

I didn't know Venezuela had uranium. That fact makes this picture really scary.

[Beckwith]

And what are those Guardian Angels doing there?

[Gay State Conservative]

WHY HASN'T A MARINE SNIPER BEEN SENT TO VISIT THIS SCUMBAG?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

With Saddam out (Chavez was eager to embrace Saddam after 9-11) they're working with Iran

Source: International Herald Tribune Published: Dec 29, 2000 Author: Tad Szulc Fidel, Saddam and Hugo --An improbable but growing friendship of three military revolutionaries

[Pikachu_Dad]

AWM.... Anybody With Money.

[gunnedah]

This is part of the Jihad against America. Christianity is being driving out abroad and the Democrats are driving it out from within. It is not as much a conspiracy between the Democrats and the Muslims as it is a quest or thirst for power at all cost.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Is Iran helping Venezuela going nuclear?

[Just mythoughts]

So will Venezuela be the next to go nuclear, they got oil dollars?

[EBH]

Ah yes, and isn't Hamas scheduled to visit next week?

[Smokin' Joe]

I was thinking that guy would look better in crosshairs, too.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Terror Close to Home In Venezuela, a volatile leader befriends Mideast, Colombia (FARC) and Cuba***.....Venezuela is providing support--including identity documents--that could prove useful to radical Islamic groups, say U.S. officials. U.S. News has learned that Chavez's government has issued thousands of cedulas, the equivalent of Social Security cards, to people from places such as Cuba, Colombia, and Middle Eastern nations that play host to foreign terrorist organizations. An American official with firsthand knowledge of the ID scheme has seen computer spreadsheets with names of people organized by nationality. "The list easily totaled several thousand," the official says. "Colombians were the largest group; there were more than a thousand of them. It also included many from Middle Eastern `countries of interest' like Syria, Egypt, Pakistan, Lebanon." The official adds: "It was shocking to see how extensive the list was." U.S. officials believe that the Venezuelan government is issuing the documents to people who should not be getting them and that some of these cedulas were subsequently used to obtain Venezuelan passports and even American visas, which could allow the holder to elude immigration checks and enter the United States. U.S. officials say that the cedulas are also being used by Colombian subversives and by some Venezuelan officials to travel surreptitiously..................*** ( U.S. News and World Report ^ | October 6, 2003 | Linda Robinson )

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Ah yes, and isn't Hamas scheduled to visit next week?

That's what I've heard.

[Just mythoughts]

...... and let's not forget that Putin of Russia made fast friends with Chavez.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Putin: Russia Will Develop Oil and Military Cooperation With Venezuela