[NYTr] Argentina, Venezuela Accuse US of Smear Campaign

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Venezuelanalysis - Dec 13, 2007
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/3001

Venezuela, Argentina Accuse US of Smear Campaign

by Chris Carlson

Mérida, December 13, 2007, (venezuelanalysis.com) Government
authorities from both Venezuela and Argentina accused the United States
of carrying out a smear campaign against them yesterday after US
officials arrested four individuals accused of being agents of the
Venezuelan government. US officials alleged that the arrested
individuals were involved in trying to cover up an "international
scandal" between Venezuela and Argentina, but both countries have
rejected the claims.

Three Venezuelan citizens and one Uruguayan citizen were arrested in
Miami on Tuesday night and appeared before a federal court yesterday on
charges of "acting and conspiring to act as agents of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela within the United States," according to an
official statement from the US Department of Justice.

The Assistant US Attorney General for National Security Kenneth
Wainstein accused the defendants of "coordinating and participating in
a series of meetings" with the Venezuelan-American Guido Alejandro
Antonini Wilson, who was involved in the illegal trafficking of nearly
US$ 800,000 from Venezuela to Argentina last August.

Argentinean customs officials caught Antonini on August 4th of this
year attempting to enter the country with a suitcase that contained US$
790,000. Argentinean officials confiscated the money, but Antonini
returned to his home in South Florida.

According to the Assistant Attorney General, the four defendants were
working on behalf of the Venezuelan government to get Antonini's help
in covering up the source of the money, which, according to US
officials, was for "the presidential campaign of Cristina [Fernandez]
Kirchner."

"The complaint filed today outlines an alleged plot by agents of the
Venezuelan government to manipulate an American citizen in Miami in an
effort to keep the lid on a burgeoning international scandal," said
Wainstein.

But both the Argentinean and Venezuelan governments have rejected the
claims, calling them a "desperate attempt" to tarnish the growing ties
between the two countries. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro
assured that the case was part of a U.S. plan to damage Venezuela's
image.

"This information from Miami makes the role of the US government in
this campaign to damage the relations between our governments very
clear," said Maduros who assured that they have "no doubt" that the
United States is behind the political scandal.

"We are seeing a desperate effort by the government of the United
States, using delicate mechanisms of judicial power for a political,
psychological, and media war against the continent's progressive
governments," he assured.

President of Argentina Cristina Fernandez also rejected the claims,
comparing them to an American movie in which "you never know how much
is true and how much is a lie." The Argentinean president assured that
she "would not be pressured," and insisted that she would maintain her
close ties to the Venezuelan government.

"All of our convictions and policies are going to be deepened because
Argentina has never needed anyone to tell her who she can be friends
with," she said.

President Fernandez, without actually mentioning the United States,
accused the country of wanting to subordinate them to their own
interests.

"Instead of wanting nations of friends, they want nations of employees
and subordinates," she said.

But the president assured that she would continue efforts to strengthen
Mercosur, the Bank of the South, and the construction of a
"multilateral world."

Argentinean cabinet member Alberto Fernandez, who called the case a "US
intelligence operation," also explained that the accusations of the US
officials are unlikely to be true. He pointed out that Antonini was
detained by the Argentinean officials upon entering the country, and
the money was confiscated. Fernandez explained that if the Chavez
government wanted to bring in money to finance the campaign of Cristina
Fernandez, they could have easily done it a few days later when
President Chavez visited the country.

"If the objective was to enter [the country] with a suitcase of money
he could have entered the next day in Chavez' airplane and no one would
have noticed," he said.

"But this thing has the characteristics of being a dirty trick to
tarnish the presence of Chavez in Argentina," said Fernandez. "I have
no doubt of that."

Fernandez called on the United States to answer Argentina's request for
the extradition of Antonini Wilson, so that they can carry out an
investigation with regards to the $800,000.

"If the United States is really interested in the truth, they should
extradite Antonini Wilson. But I'm afraid they are protecting him," he
said.