WASHINGTON is channeling hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund the
political opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez – including those
who briefly overthrew the democratically-elected leader two years ago.

Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that in 2002
America paid more than a million dollars to these groups in what
it claims is an ongoing effort to build democracy. Mr Chavez has seized on
this information, telling Washington to “get its hands off Venezuela”.

The revelation comes as Mr Chavez faces a possible recall referendum. He
has been rocked by a series of violent street demonstrations in which eight
people have
died. His opponents, including labour leaders and media
executives are currently trying to force a national vote, though the
electoral council – on which the government has a controlling vote – say
not enough of the signatures collected are valid.

The documents reveal that last September the US approved $53,400 for one of
the groups, called Sumate, that is organising the collection of
signatures.

Jeremy Bigwood, a freelance journalist who obtained the
documents, told The Independent: “This really repeats a pattern
that was started in Nicaragua in the election of 1990 when [the US] spent
$20 per voter to get rid of [the Sandinista President Daniel] Ortega. It’s
done in the name of democracy but it’s rather hypocritical. Venezuela does
have a democratically-elected President who won the popular vote which is
not the case with the US.”

The funding has been made by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) a
non-profit agency entirely financed by the US Congress. It annually
distributes $40m in what is says are efforts to strengthen democracy
worldwide.

But critics of the NED say the organisation routinely meddles in the
affairs of other countries to support groups that believe in free
enterprise,
minimal government intervention in the economy, and oppose socialism
in any form. In recent years the NED has channeled considerable funds to
the political opponents of the ousted Haitian president Jean-Bertrand
Aristide at the same time that Washington was blocking loans to his
government.

“It the sort of stuff that used to be done by the CIA,” said Mr Bigwood. “I
am not particularly interested in Mr Chavez – I am interested in what
Washington is doing.”

In Venezuela, the NED channeled the money to three of its four
main operational “wings”: the international arms of the Republican and
Democratic parties and the foreign policy wing of the AFL-CIO union. These
groups ran workshops and provided free advice to three political parties –
Democratic Action, Copei and Justice First - the leaderships of which have
all been at the forefront of the
recall effort.

Sumate, which did not exist at the time of the 2002 coup, has never hidden
its US funding. Spokeswoman Maria Corina Machado said allegations that the
US was using her group overthrow Mr Chavez were 'ridiculous'. “[The NED
money] is less than five per cent of our budget.”

Chris Sabatini, the director of the NED for Latin America, claimed the
organisation’s aim is to promote democracy. He told the New York Times that
the endowment worked with civic groups in Venezuela with no
political ties.

Relations between the US and Venezuela have not been so tense since April
2002 when Mr Chavez was briefly ousted by opponents who had been supported
by the US prior to the coup. At the time Washington blamed Mr
Chavez for his own downfall.

Washington’s antipathy towards Mr Chavez is fuelled by his friendship with
Cuba's Fidel Castro and his open criticism of Washington-backed free market
policies. But Venezuela is also America’s fourth largest supplier of oil –
something that gives Mr Chavez a degree of leverage but at the same time
makes him vulnerable to those who would like to see a more pro-American
leader. In recent speeches Mr Chavez called President Bush a “real jerk”
and threatened to cut off America’s oil supply.

Opponents of Mr Chavez say he is using his control of state institutions to
avoid the recall referendum, a provision of the 1999 constitution which he
himself introduced.

Caracas and other cities have been rocked by marches and demonstrations in
support of the recall vote. Allegations of torture against demonstrators
led last week to the resignation of Venezuela’s UN Ambassador, Milos
Alcalay. There have also been marches in support of the president.