U.S. Denies Venezuelan Allegations That Missionary Group Has CIA Links

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB7TF2ZSEE.html

U.S. Ambassador Denies Venezuelan Allegations That Missionary Group Has CIA Links

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - The American ambassador to Venezuela strongly denied on Friday alleged links between the CIA and a U.S.-based missionary group that the Venezuelan government has threatened to expel.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has accused the New Tribes Mission of collaborating with the CIA and taking "strategic information" out of the country.

While the government has failed to elaborate on its allegations, U.S. ambassador William Brownfield stated Friday that the group was not linked to the CIA or financed by it.

"I can deny that categorically," Brownfield told reporters.

:sarcasm:

categorically deny it! That's what they used to do for Valerie Plame, too, before Bob Novak "outed" her.

I dunno. Would the strongest nation on earth, with the world's biggest oil jones try to spy on the world's fifth largest producer of oil?

Gosh! Why?! Right wing cars run on Jesusjuice, not that filthy oil!

:grr:

wrote about this, so I believe it is definitely true, but I can't find my copy. Some evangelical group that was supposed to be doing "missionary" work was actually working for the oil companies, or something like that. Makes me sick

John Birch pretended to be a missionary while spying for the CIA.

Venezuela is a sovereign country. They can deport anyone they like.

Just like the US can arrest foreigners in their own country. Or kidnap others who are just passing through. OK, that's pushing it.

It would never use missionary groups or journalists or diplomats or air transport companies or drug runners or arms dealers or the mafia for anything that was aimed at doing anything that would disturb world peace.

Unless they thought they could get away with it (which they seldom have) by lying.

Bush et al haven't exactly made it a secret that they would prefer him out & the US has a long history of using missionaries as a way of spying on a country (particularly in South America). A good book on this (though hard to find) is "Thy Will Be Done" by Gerald Colby & Charlotte Dennett