Venezuela headed for chaos

[Paolo123]

2. If Roger Noriega says so, it must be true

I don't deny that there are problems, but I would never believe anything this guy says.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Noriega

In 2000, Noriega played a key role in engineering the fall of Haiti's elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Noriega was a vocal critic of the Aristide government and circulated demands for the removal of Aristide at the OAS. After the US helped to overthrow him, Noriega quickly applauded the ascension of Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, who came to office despite the fact that he was living in Florida at the time and was therefore ineligible for the presidency under Haitian constitutional law. Amid rampant violence and chaos, Noriega celebrated the overthrow of Haiti's government, stating to Congress: "Now we can make a new beginning in helping Haiti to build a democracy that respects the rule of law and protects the human rights of its citizens." 7 After Noriega's involvement, Haiti became the standard example of anarchy in the 21st century.

At the time of Posada Carriles' arrest in the U.S. in 2005, Noriega stated that the charges against Mr. Posada, whose extradition has long been sought by Venezuela, "may be a completely manufactured issue," and that Posada "might not have been in the United States."[2]

Noriega was a major force behind the Bush Administration’s policy of aggression towards Cuba and Venezuela.[3]

In 1996, Noriega co-authored the Helms-Burton law which tightened the 40-year-old embargo on Cuba.[4]

In April 2002, Noriega publicly clashed with United States Secretary of State Colin Powell when he applauded the short-lived coup d’état in Venezuela, forcing Powell to distance himself from Noriega’s comments after Hugo Chávez was returned to power.8

Noriega resigned from the State Department in 2005 to join the private sector.[5] In 2009, he was hired as a U.S. lobbyist by the interim government in Honduras during the 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis when then President Manuel Zelaya was ousted for attempting to side step the Honduran constitution. [6]

Since leaving office, Noriega has written on Western Hemisphere issues, including a claim that Iran has helped Venezuela start their own secret nuclear program.[7]

As Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs under President George W. Bush,[8] Ambassador Noriega was responsible for managing U.S. foreign policy and promoting U.S. interests in the region.