Eva Golinger: Hugo Chavez´s Tokyo Rose
By Aleksander Boyd
09.09.07 - Recently the identities of 33 journalists were brought to the attention of congressmen in Venezuela for allegedly conspiring against Hugo Chavez. For this reason they could be tried for treason and may well end up in jail. Venezuela’s prisons system is recognized as one of the worst in the continent. But if that prospect wasn’t preoccupying enough, the fact that the man behind any legal decision in this respect is set to become president for life should make for ponder.
The 33 journalists perpetrated the same `crime,´ that of having accepted invitations to the US by the National Endowment for Democracy or USAID. In the eyes of the revolutionary comrade denouncing the issue having accepted a perfectly valid and legal invitation or being a recipient of US government’s hospitality equates to being a CIA snitch, bent in ending the revolution spearheaded by Castro’s apprentice. It is effectively the ultimate tool to eliminate foes: guilty by association. In a land where the justice system deceased long ago such trials by conspiracy are common place. By the same token some conclusions are to be drawn.
The person driving the issue is one Eva Golinger, an American lawyer. Born, raised and educated in the USA her rise within chavismo has been nothing short of meteoric. Contacted in the first instance in the second semester of 2003 by Venezuelan Ambassador to the USA and one of his attachés, Bernardo Alvarez Herrera and Andres Izarra respectively, Golinger has gone from sorting out immigration visas in the USA to launch propaganda books in Havana and Caracas in the presence of the highest regime officials.
Apart from that Golinger has been franticly engaged in the distribution of propaganda and lobbying. In reply to a letter I wrote recently Golinger alleged that she was not a lobbyist and that she needed not to register with the Justice Department´s register of Foreign Agents for her activities were not in violation to the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Since first contact with Venezuelan diplomats Golinger has: 1) misrepresented herself; 2) accepted payments for legal work without having credentials; 3) lied about membership of American Immigration Lawyers Association; 4) solicited and taken allegedly tax exempt contributions from the public without having been granted 501 status from the IRS; 5) offered legal services in Washington and Miami without proper credentials; 6) distributed propaganda in US soil without registering as a foreign agent with the Justice Department; 7) written open letters to US presidential candidates in favour of Hugo Chavez; 8) contacted editorial boards to protest negative press about Chavez; 9) traveled to Cuba disregarding US legislation; 10) requested the public to contact US representatives to change perceptions about Chavez.
It remains to be seen when and under which circumstances did Golinger receive her Venezuelan nationality, which I have been told was recently. She now lives in Caracas, works for one of Chavez´s propaganda outlets according to own admission but has not stopped visiting the USA to attend different propaganda events organized and funded by Venezuelan consulates and embassies. Hence if someone must be considered guilty by association is Eva Golinger, Hugo Chavez´s Tokyo Rose, for the 33 journalists defamed by her have violated no Venezuelan laws.
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