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The following is the result of the above media interviews yesterday. -Shane

Chavez Under Fire For Al Qaeda Financing

Chavez / Al Qaeda connection:
front page news in Venezuela

All over Venezuela, ordinary voters are outraged by the latest proof of terrorist connections between their country's ruler Hugo Chavez and Al Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden's global terrorist network.

Sunday, the nation awoke to find the scandal top news in all states.

"Financing of terrorists", screamed the huge headline of La Voz, from Miranda state. In Aragua state, El Siglo announced on its front page that "Chavez gave one million dollars to Al Qaeda". And in Carabobo state, Notitarde came out with an "Edicion Extraordinaria", a special edition, which was headlined: "Chavez gave 900 thousand dollars to Bin Laden's terrorist network". The paper referred to the $900,000 in cash for Al Qaeda and later mentioned the additional $100,000 in food and tents for the Taliban, for a total of one million in assistance. El Nacional, in Caracas, reported that the records of the investigation will be shared with the U.S. State Department in its fight against international terrorism and rogue states sponsoring terrorism.

Faced with the proof of his Al Qaeda financing, Hugo Chavez has so far maintained a complete silence. The "no comment" order extends to his entire inner circle: None of his other collaborators named in the Al Qaeda files have yet commented either. This curious silence follows the pattern of the 9/11 aftermath, when he vanished from sight for days and was the last Latin leader to make a statement.

But to the nation's press, the Chavez / Al Qaeda connection is front page news, and the embattled leader is drawing fire for not wanting to face his actions.

" - Zany dictator Hugo Chavez has really gone off the rails this time," said Caracas street vendor Felipe Lopez, 28, while studying the documentation published by dozens of the country's newspapers.

"Dictatorial thugs like Hugo Chavez are dangerous to his own people and to the rest of the world."

Desperate for change, voters have renewed their call for free and democratic elections. Hugo Chavez, showing his dictatorial streak, has publicly announced that he will not call elections anytime soon, that he will not finance such elections, and in the event that elections were to be held anyway, he will not abide by their outcome.

Soledad Bravo, a popular Venezuelan folk singer and former Chavez supporter, distanced herself from the strongman, and urged the world to act:

" - Freeing ourselves from Chavez is our duty to history."

Your post leads one to think that, no matter how bad you think it is, its really worse.

This is every bit as important a crisis as the one in the Middle East, or Korea, perhaps more so. Perhaps more so by a factor of 2 or 3.

It is absolutely essential that this guy be taken down and soon. But that by itself is not enough. He has to be taken down by the Venezuelans themselves, there must be no US fingerprints on his demise, and he must be thoroughly discredited, especially in the eyes of his natural followers.

This report, on his Al Qaeda funding, is the knife in the ribs, no US fingerprints, his followers are backing away, this is perfect.

I don't believe the military will fire on the crowds. In fact, I would guarantee they will not. That is Chavez' problem, that is the reason he established the Circles, to do what his troops will not. That is why he is alledgedly bringing in Cubans in Venezuelan uniforms, to do what his own troops will not.

Venezuelan troops famously slaughtered hundreds of rioters a few years ago, during the food riots, but it is one thing to shoot violent looters, it is another to shoot at a crowd of a million average peaceful Venezuelans. They won't do it. And if the Circles do, and they will, at some point the military will intervene to stop it. The Army would not hesitate to shoot at other military or police units, but not at peaceful civilians.

So I think, at some point, the people are simply going to have to go over the fence, and take him into custody. They will have to be prepared to handle his immediate circle of bodyguards, who may be foreign or certainly hardened.