Official convicted over Iran-Contra scandal appointed to help 'restore democracy' in Venezuela
Elliott Abrams withheld information from Congress over secret funding of paramilitaries
Andrew Buncombe Seattle @AndrewBuncombe | 5 hours ago
The Trump administration has announced that Elliott Abrams, who was convicted over the Iran-Contra scandal in which the Ronald Reagan administration secretly funded paramilitary groups in Nicaragua, will lead the US’s efforts to press for democracy in Venezuela.
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Reuters described Mr Abrams was a neoconservative who has long advocated an activist US role in the world. He last served in government in the George W Bush White House, first as a Middle East expert on the national security council and later as a global democracy strategy adviser.
He was assistant secretary of state during the Reagan administration and was convicted in 1991 on two misdemeanour counts of withholding information from Congress during the Iran-Contra scandal. He was later pardoned by President George HW Bush.
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For many Latin America watchers he will be associated with his denial of a 1982 massacre at El Mozote in El Salvador of hundreds of civilians by the military. Mr Abrams told a Senate committee that the reports of hundreds of deaths at El Mozote “were not credible”.
More:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/venezuela-latest-elliott-abrams-trump-pompeo-maduro-juan-guaido-a8747306.html
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https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142253530
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Date created : 25/01/2019 - 23:33
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listens as President Donald Trump speaks about the government shutdown at the White House AFP
Washington (AFP)
Top US diplomat Mike Pompeo on Friday tapped Elliot Abrams, a central figure in Ronald Reagan's controversial anti-communist campaigns in Central America, as a new envoy to "restore democracy" in Venezuela.
Pompeo announced the appointment of Abrams two days after Washington declared head of state Nicolas Maduro to be illegitimate and recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim president of crisis-plagued Venezuela.
Pompeo said that Abrams "will be a true asset to our mission to help the Venezuelan people fully restore democracy and prosperity to their country."
Abrams told reporters in brief remarks: "This crisis in Venezuela is deep and difficult and dangerous and I can't wait to get to work on it."
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Abrams during the 2016 election had written a piece in The Weekly Standard magazine entitled, "When You Can't Stand Your Candidate," in which he argued that Trump "cannot win and should not be president of the United States."
More:
https://www.france24.com/en/20190125-us-taps-controversial-abrams-restore-democracy-venezuela
