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(TMPress International – New York – May 10, 2004) – Why Bush, Cheney and the Neo-cons Are Aiming at Cuba and Venezuela Next … Former Cuban dissidents have taken issue with the Bush White House in its attempt to end Castro's rule, as Havana announced new emergency measure to fights U.S. economic destabilization efforts. Cuba is hoping that relative families and allies in South Florida, some who are former enemies of Castro's government will proceed with their effort to take issue with American efforts to destabilize Cuba economically and go directly to international bodies, like the UN.

 The White House has announced several measures at Cuba … limiting American tourism by third-country flights, to tighten restrictions on Cuban-Americans' cash remittances to relatives on the island and limit family visits between the United States and Cuba to one every three years, officials said in Washington. The National Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation all said they opposed the US efforts including using a US military plane to broadcast pro-democracy messages into Cuba. Bush endorsed the measures in Washington last week, Washington's accusations stem from US neo-con reports that Havana harbors terrorists, foments subversion in Latin America, and has at least a limited developmental offensive biological weapons research capability. This as the U.S. secretly has been enabling Colombian Special Forces working with Venezuelan insurgents to overthrow Castro's only other supporter in Latin America, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela – who was almost ousted last year by an undercover CIA operation, which the Bush White House distanced themselves from quickly.

Cuban dissident leaders like the Varela Project and Cuban Change are trying to force economic and political reform from within the current system and disagree with the White House on its heavy-handed tactics with Cuba and Castro, especially people like Cambio Cubano, Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo and Elizardo Sanchez Santacruz, all former dissidents – but leaders of peaceful internal reform, not `Cold War' methods, such as the White House is advocating. Many of the goals of the new `Bush American Approach' is to undermine Castro and his government, but others like the Varela Project and Cuban change say that US plans are nothing more than hair-raising efforts to meddle in Cuban affairs, that they would be counter-productive … and insisting that it is not appropriate or acceptable for any force outside Cuba to try to design the Cuban transition process. Cuba's top diplomats have called the American effort tantamount to a `destabilization plan' that would destroy Cuba's recovering economy and political process and that Havana plans to report to the appropriate international authorities about those attempts!

As for Venezuela, White House clandestine operations have circulated for well over a year, and with rumors in the Miami press that there is a secret terrorist training camp for Muslim radicals on a Venezuelan resort island, others like the one about the Cuban president recently suffering a heart attack during a secret visit to a secret Biological Weapons facility being jointly run by Cuba and Venezuela on Venezuelan territory and another that Osama bin Laden is hidden here. President Chavez's apparent view as sees these rumors and last year's coup attempt, as a blatant disinformation campaign by the Bush White House and Pentagon types to discredit his leftist populist government and overthrow it. Or as some in the Venezuelan military have suggested, an excuse to send U.S. Marines into his oil-rich country, but most experts agree that it seems to be the work of Chavez opponents desperate to pass around anything negative to Washington, DC, the OAS and the West about a president the regard as a dictator, who they say has ruined the country's economy and pitted poor against rich in that country for the last three-years, causing widespread strikes, an attempted military coup against President Chavez and work-stoppages designed to shut down the oil sector.

International Energy experts have identified Venezuela, as a high priority market for the oil and gas sector because of its high level of proven oil reserves. This priority is a result of the high level of investment anticipated for both oil and gas sectors and to sustain an international effort to increase oil production from existing fields, to develop new oil and gas fields and to increase the capacity of the country's already substantial refining and petrochemical sector. Venezuela holds proven oil reserves of 77 billion barrels, plus billions of barrels of extra-heavy oil and bitumen. It is the world's sixth-largest oil producer, the United States relies on Venezuela for about 10 per cent of its oil supplies – controlled by Venezuela's massive oil enterprise is state-run juggernaut Petr?leos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), which provides the country with more than one half of all government revenues! – By John Osborne, Sr. Political Editor – TMPress International Newswire

© 2004 TMPress International Newswire. Reprint granted without fee or license, please feel free to query for reprint confirmation.

Article Sources/Citations: TMPress International, newswire services and the CIA Factbook Online.

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