The Canadian government has given $16,000 to Súmate, the most visible institution of the current opposition movement in Venezuela. Súmate organized last year’s recall referendum against President Hugo Chávez, and is calling for a boycott of the upcoming National Assembly elections on December 4.
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Venezuelan opposition electoral company, Sumate is in the news again, confirming a $107,000 donation from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) organization based in Washington. The money will allegedly be used for training 14,000 Venezuelan citizens in "education for democracy" programs.
Súmate chief, Maria Corina Machado* says Súmate asked for the donation because there is no law in Venezuela that prohibits receiving financing from international organizations that promote democracy. "The current trial against four of Súmate leaders for conspiracy against the State is an attempt to intimidate and silence Súmate."
Machado has revealed that the Canadian Embassy and the right-wing German anti-Communist Konrad Adenauer Foundation have granted donations this year ... Canada $16,000 and Germany 20 million bolivares for forum and seminars. Analysts suggest that most of funding will go towards paying stipends to volunteers (14,400) and 70 active service facilitators or commissars, as Súmate and the opposition prepare for the all-important National Assembly elections in December.
Other sources indicate that the US government is banking on Súmate to cause an upset in December and to spur despondent opposition supporters into action in the months leading up to December by attacking the National Elections Council (CNE). Source
U.S. government funds have been channelled to opposition groups in Venezuela dedicated to the overthrow of the Chávez government. This kind of meddling in the affairs of another country would never be tolerated if another country did it to the USA.* Maria Corina Machado is the daughter of Enrique Machado Zuloaga, a Venezuelan multimillionaire magnate. He is a former director of the first mining corporation of Venezuela and is also head of a private group ("Dividendo Voluntario para la Comunidad") that also receives funds from NED and USAid and carries out antidemocratic and destabilizing activities of the extreme opposition. Machado is a relative of Guillermo Antonio Zuloaga Nuńez, multimillionaire owner of the openly and rabidly anti-Chávez TV station Globovision. Under Carmona, Nuńez appointed all media positions in the brief 48-hour dictatorial government. In short, Súmate is an organization intimately linked to extremely wealthy individuals and it is incredible to think that Canada would deem them deserving or in need of Canadian taxpayers' money.
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The following petition is being circulated by the Louis Riel Bolivarian Circle of Toronto:
HON. PRIME MINISTER PAUL MARTIN
House of Commons, Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0A6
Dear Prime Minister Martin:
The Canadian government is financially supporting SUMATE, a political group that has:
· Been implicated in a coup d'état and the kidnapping of the Venezuelan President;
· Supported a sabotage of Venezuela's oil industry causing a US$13 billion loss;
· Been denounced by former US President Jimmy Carter for committing electoral fraud in a Venezuelan referendum;
· Openly promoted voter abstention in parliamentary elections!
The Canadian government has already given US $16,000 to SUMATE. This organization is key to an anti-democratic sector of the opposition to the legitimate government of President Hugo Chávez and has actively worked to destabilize a democratic, Canadian-friendly government. SUMATE masquerades as an NGO in order to obtain foreign aid.
With so much need for world-wide solidarity in terms of poverty, child welfare, and human health, it is unconscionable that Canadian foreign aid is being wasted supporting an internationally discredited group that does not associate itself with the legitimate social and political needs of the Venezuelan people.
We urge you, Prime Minister, to end Canada's relations with SUMATE, to demand the return of the funds provided to them, and to redirect Canada's financial assistance towards independent civil groups that share Canada's democratic values.
Supporting SUMATE is an abuse of Canadians' generosity and an unconscionable use of taxpayers' money. Prime Minister Martin, please strengthen the political, economic, and cultural relations with democratic Venezuela to the benefit of both countries and their citizens.
Respectfully,
Signature:
Address:
Date:
Organization:
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posted 15 October 2005 06:25 PM
