Venezuela's Chavez creates new intelligence agencies

[Judi Lynn]

Venezuela's Chavez creates new intelligence agencies

May 29, 2008 9:13 AM

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez is revamping his intelligence agencies to counter what he calls U.S. attempts to undermine his government.

Four new spy agencies will replace the current DISIP secret police and DIM military intelligence agency, Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin said Thursday.

A new law has established the General Intelligence Office and the General Counterintelligence Office, both overseen by the Interior Ministry, plus similar military intelligence and counterintelligence components, Rodriguez Chacin told reporters.

He did not say how they will differ from the current spy agencies or whether any top officials will be replaced.

Rodriquez Chacin announced the change the previous night, saying the new agencies are meant to confront U.S. attempts to meddle in Venezuela's internal affairs.

More:
http://www.newspress.com/Top/Article/article.jsp?Section=WORLD&ID=565305936525526270

[magbana]

1. I guess US infiltration in intelligence services in Ecuador was . . .

a warning signal and luckily Chavez is taking precautions in Venezuela.

[magbana]

2. Detailed Story on this topic from Venezuelanalysis

Venezuela Replaces Decades-Old Intelligence Institutions
May 29th 2008, by James Suggett - Venezuelanalysis.com

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/3505


Mérida, May 29, 2008 (venezuelanalysis.com)-- The Venezuelan Minister of Justice and the Interior, Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, announced Wednesday that the Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP) and Military Intelligence Division (DIM) of the federal government will be eliminated and replaced by new state intelligence organisms that will operate under the new Law on Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence passed by presidential decree on Wednesday.

President Chavez passed the law-decree under the 18-month enabling law authority he received from the National Assembly in early 2007.

The new intelligence policies portray “how these organisms should act and how Venezuela of the 21st century, as threatened as it is, now has the tools and the capacity to produce all of the intelligence and counterintelligence in order to make the strategic decisions of the State,” the minister declared at an event in Petare, the largest barrio in Venezuela’s capital city.

The creation of new intelligence organizations responds to the urgent need to confront interference by the United States in the internal affairs of Venezuela, Rodriguez Chacín explained.

The minister also highlighted that deconstructing intelligence institutions is complicated and the process must be systematic. He said the DISIP and DIM would be gradually replaced by a General Director of Intelligence and Counterintelligence ascribed to the Ministry of Justice and the Interior, and a General Director of Military Intelligence and Counterintelligence ascribed to the Defense Ministry.

To train and equip new intelligence officials and educate them about the Law on Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, a special University of Security will be created. Current intelligence personnel will be put through university training programs to assure “ideological commitment” and “academic formation” before being absorbed into new institutions, Rodriguez Chacín announced Thursday.

When asked about the character of the new institutions, Chacín responded, “basically, we are talking about secret organizations. If a functionary is working on intelligence, well nobody should know this.”

The text of the new law is not available to the public yet. The Bolivarian News Agency reports that the law contains 29 articles which outline the general dispositions and competencies of the institutions and their relationship to other institutions, define intelligence and counterintelligence, and review the activities, types of documents and things which will be subject to investigation by intelligence agencies, as well as the laws regarding confidentiality.

The eliminated DISIP and DIM had been created by presidential decree in 1969 with the purpose of, in the minister’s opinion, “obeying the capitalist vision that existed in that era.”

These institutions were notoriously repressive during their nearly four decades of existence. It was widely speculated that they coordinated directly with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and supported anti-Castro Cuban terrorists, such as Luis Posada Carriles, who is currently wanted by Cuba and Venezuela for the 1973 bombing of an airliner and is now living in the U.S.

Before Wednesday, intelligence agencies had not been regulated by federal intelligence law.

Local policing committee established

On Wednesday, Minister Chacín and the Petare community also inaugurated a “communal table”, which is a group of government and local community representatives who will carry out a pilot project of the National Plan for Communal Crime Prevention.

In order to be successful at preventing crime, neighborhood organization is “indispensable,” and local residents must be protagonists, the minister commented.

Communal tables will take an integral approach to crime prevention, which includes educational, health, infrastructure, and economic solutions. For this reason, Venezuela’s Culture Minister, Infrastructure Minister, Social Protection Minister, Communication and Information Minister, representatives from the federal health and education programs known as “missions,” and local government officials were present at the table Wednesday, along with the General Director of Crime Prevention.

The crime prevention plan is accompanied by the Caracas Security Plan, which has now entered its 22nd week and has deployed 2,000 newly equipped police officers in Caracas.

The Interior and Justice Ministry reported Thursday that in the three pilot project sites where crime prevention has been combined with strengthened police forces, crime has been reduced by 70%.

Minister Chacín boasted that no homicides were registered last Monday. “This is an important achievement, it could be a record; there were deaths by car accident and other causes, but not by homicide,” he told reporters.

Only three homicides were registered last Tuesday, which the minister said was a low figure. However, he said that celebrating this achievement is not meant to disrespect those who died, “because this is about human beings who have been excluded from the system, from the society.”

[Judi Lynn]

3. Great report. Looking forward to learning more about the changes ahead. Thanks. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

4. Setting the record straight on intelligence reform: "The NYT attack vs. the facts."

Venezuela's progressive, new intelligence reform. The NYT attack vs. the facts.
By Letter
Jun 7, 2008, 05:32


Today's article by the New York Times, "Chávez Decree Tightens Hold on Intelligence", demonstrates the Times' ongoing attempt to mislead the general public about the intentions of the Venezuelan government.

While one might have expected the article to describe the content of Venezuela's new intelligence law and discuss a range of reactions to it, the scope was limited only to criticisms by the opposition.

Here are the facts:

The law eliminates Venezuela's 50 year old secret political police, known as DISIP, created during the dictatorship of Perez Jimenez. It also eliminates Venezuela's agency of Military intelligence (DIM). In their place, the General Intelligence Office and the General Counterintelligence Office have been created, both overseen by the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Defense.

Refining the intelligence capacity of the state does not allow for a "tightening control" by President Chavez; rather, for the first time Venezuela is providing a legal framework for carrying out and monitoring intelligence activities of the nation. Many actions that once were left to the discretion of the DISIP and the DIM are now subject to oversight. Moreover, the existence of this law provides a level of transparency that was lacking before.

The dissolution of the DISIP and DIM was long overdue. For decades. Venezuelans feared these agencies for their involvement in nefarious activity and repression, including incidents involving the escape of notorious criminals. Most importantly, from 1967 to 1974, terrorist Luis Posada Carriles was a high level official at the DISIP. This very important point was passed over by the Times.

As opposed to what the Times implies, the new law guarantees the rights of Freedom of Expression and Due Process under the Law, as established in Venezuela's Constitution. In Article 21, for instance, it is clearly outlined that those prosecuted are guaranteed the right to a public defense.

More:
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_26966.shtml

[Judi Lynn]

5. Posted by DU'er Joanne98: Chavez Revamps His Intelligence Services: The Corporate Media React

Chavez Revamps His Intelligence Services: The Corporate Media React

by Stephen Lendman


Reports keep surfacing about new threats against Hugo Chavez. Given past ones, they can't be taken lightly. Chavez is alerted and reacts accordingly. Case in point: revamping Venezuela's decades old intelligence services. It's long overdue and urgently needed given the Bush administration's tenure winding down and its determination in its remaining months to end the Bolivarian project and crush its participatory democracy.

CIA, NED, IRI, USAID and other US elements infest the country and are more active than ever. Subversion is their strategy, and it shows up everywhere. Violence is being encouraged. Opposition groups are recruited and funded. So are members of Venezuela's military. Student groups as well and anti-Chavista candidates for November's mayoral and gubernatorial elections.

The dominant media are on board in Venezuela and America. They assail Chavez relentlessly and are on the warpath again after his May 28 announced intelligence services changes. The Interior and Justice Ministries will oversee a new General Intelligence Office and Counterintelligence Office in place of the current Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (DISIP). Similar military intelligence and counterintelligence components will replace the Military Intelligence Division (DIM) and will be under the Defense Ministry. Why was it done and why now? To counter stepped up US espionage and destabilization efforts when it's most needed.

New tools will be used and current personnel retrained and vetted for their Bolivarian commitment. DISIP and DIM are outdated. They've been around since 1969 to serve the "capitalist vision" of that era. Ever since, they've been "notoriously repressive" and closely aligned with the CIA. Therein lies the problem. Chavez intends to fix it. The dominant media reacted. They're hostile to change and showed it their reports.

The New York Times' Simon Romero has trouble with his facts. He headlined "Chavez Decree Tightens Hold on Intelligence." He referred to the new Law on Intelligence and Counterintelligence that passed by presidential decree under the legislatively-granted enabling law. He failed to explain that the 1969 law passed the same way, and that Venezuela's Constitution then and now permit it.

Instead, he noted a "fierce backlash here from (mostly unnamed) human rights groups and 'legal scholars' who say the measures will force citizens to inform on one another to avoid prison terms....The new law requires (them) to....assist the agencies, secret police or community activist groups loyal to Mr. Chavez. Refusal can result in prison terms of two to four years (and up to) six years for government employees."

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9237

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x364197

[roody]

6. I'm just finishing reading Hugo!

by Bart Jones. The biography is biased pro-Hugo, and the details of what has happened in Venezuela are fascinating. He has overcome great adversities.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Thanks for the info. There are several out there, and I had no one which one would be worthwhile.

No one really wants to spend his time trying to work through something written by a fascist, bent on trying to bury a progressive!

A clear view of the facts would be refreshing.

I hope it gives a good picture of El Caracazo, which was COMPLETELY hidden from us in the States, the massacre being ordered by an ally of the corporate scum here.