Home > Programs
> Democracy
Now! > Mon., Nov. 29, 2004
Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 11-29-04
PRSS Channel: A67.7
Ukraine Court Considers Disputed Election as Eastern Region
Threatens to Break Away
CIA Documents Show Bush Knew of 2002 Coup in Venezuela
U.S. Accused of Using Poison Gases in Fallujah
Ukraine Court Considers Disputed Election as Eastern
Region Threatens to Break Away
Political tensions in Ukraine are increasing as the country's
Supreme Court considers claims of fraud in the recent presidential
elections that are straining relations between Russia and
the West and are threatening to break the country apart. We
go to Kiev to get a report and we speak with New School University
professor Nina Khrushcheva, granddaughter of former Soviet
Premier, Nikita Khrushchev. We also speak with London Guardian
reporter Ian Traynor who raises questions about U.S. complicity
in the dispute and investigative reporter Robert Parry about
the media's coverage of presidential elections in Ukraine
and the U.S.
Political tensions in Ukraine are increasing as the country's
Supreme Court considers claims of fraud in the recent presidential
elections.
Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko wants the victory of
his rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, in the November
21 election to be annulled and a new vote held on December
12. The Ukrainian parliament last week declared the election
results invalid and called for an immediate overhaul of the
central election commission. International observers have
backed the claims of fraud and the European Union has already
called for a re-run.
Yushchenko's team has submitted thousands of allegations
of ballot-rigging in eastern Ukraine. The court has begun
hearing his appeal, but any ruling is expected to take at
least several days.
Officials within Prime Minister Yanukovych's camp have complained
of a Western conspiracy against Ukraine. One aide told the
Agence France Presse "I am certain it is Washington that
is pulling the strings behind this chaos."
Meanwhile, leaders from Ukraine's eastern regions raised
the stakes in the standoff on Sunday by threatening to spilt
up the country. Delegates voted unanimously for a referendum
in December on determining the region's autonomy. Prime minister
Yanukovych did not back the move while his rival has made
it clear he would not tolerate any break-up of the country
saying those responsible should be held "criminally responsible."
Yushchenko ally Yuliya Tymoshenko went further, giving outgoing
President Leonid Kuchma 24 hours to sack the prime minister
and those governors who back a referendum.
Tens of thousands of opposition supporters have continued
to pack the capital city of Kiev and other towns in central
and western Ukraine. They have blockaded government buildings,
including the central bank, as part of a wider campaign of
civil disobedience.
Yanukovych said the disputed election has pushed Ukraine
to the "brink of catastrophe." He urged restraint
saying, "There is one step to the edge. When the first
drop of blood is spilled, we will not be able to stop it."
- Askold Krushelnycky, reporter with the London Independent.
He joins us on the line from Kiev.
- Nina Khrushcheva, professor of International Affairs
at New School University. She is the granddaughter of former
Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev.
- Robert Parry, veteran investigative journalist and author
of the new book "Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the
Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq." For years he
worked as an investigative reporter for both the Associated
Press and Newsweek magazine. His reporting led to the exposure
of what is now known as the "Iran-Contra" scandal.
CIA Documents Show Bush Knew of 2002 Coup in Venezuela
Newly released CIA documents show the Bush administration
– at the very least - knew about the plot to overthrow
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez weeks before the April 2002
military coup. We speak with Peter Korbluh of the National
Security Archive and we go to Caracas to speak with attorney
Eva Golinger who obtained the documents.
Newly released CIA documents show the Bush administration
– at the very least - knew about the plot to overthrow
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez weeks before the April 2002
military coup and did nothing to stop it.
Until now the Bush administration has claimed it had no role
in the failed coup and didn't know one was being planned.
The CIA documents, which were heavily censored before being
released, were obtained by Venezuelan-American attorney, Eva
Golinger. One of those documents, dated April 6, 2002, says
explicitly "dissident military factions...are stepping
up efforts to organize a coup against President Chavez, possibly
as early as this month." The document adds the groups:
" may bungle the attempt by moving too quickly."
A CIA spokeswoman told Newsday the agency played no role
in the coup and was merely collecting information about political
events in Venezuela for top U.S. officials.
Chavez supporters have long-criticized the U.S. for supporting
the failed coup attempt in April 2002. Chavez was removed
from power by a coalition of military officials and business
leaders but returned to office two days later.
U.S.-Venezuela relations have turned sour ever since Chavez
was elected president in 1998. As president, Chavez has condemned
the U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and threatened
to cut off oil sales to the United States.
Since then, more than $1 million in U.S. government money
has been given to Venezuelan opposition groups for democracy-training
programs under the auspices of the National Endowment for
Democracy - a private agency funded entirely by the U.S. government.
- Eva Golinger, Venezuelan-American attorney based in New
York. She runs the website venezuelafoia.info
which has been using the Freedom Of Information Act to obtain
more information on the connection between the U.S. government
and the anti-Chavez opposition in Venezuela. She joins us
from Caracas in Venezuela.
- Peter Kornbluh, a senior analyst at the National Security
Archive, a public-interest documentation center in Washington.
He is the author of "The Pinochet File: A Declassified
Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability."
U.S. Accused of Using Poison Gases in Fallujah
Survivors of the week-long attack on Fallujah have reported
the U.S. military used poison gas and other non-conventional
weapons against civilians in the assault. We go to Baghdad
to speak with independent reporter Dahr Jamail who broke the
story. Widespread violence continued throughout Iraq over
the weekend. At least 12 people died earlier today when a
car bomb exploded outside a police station in Ramadi. Most
of the dead were Iraqi police officers. In Mosul, US forces
found the bodies of 17 Iraqis on Saturday. Over the past 10
days, nearly 60 bodies have been recovered in the northern
city. At least 20 of the executed men have been identified
as members of the Iraqi National Guard. The U.S. military
in Mosul believe many of the Iraqi resistance fighters who
fled Fallujah landed in Mosul.
Independent reporter Dahr Jamail writes that survivors of
the week-long attack on Fallujah have reported the US military
used poison gas and other non-conventional weapons against
civilians in the assault.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Electoral Commission is insisting the
Jan. 30 elections will proceed as scheduled even though 17
Sunni and Kurdish political parties have called for the elections
to be postponed six months. Among those calling for a delay
is former governing council member Adnan Pachachi, a former
presidential candidate who has been allied closely with Washington.
- Dahr Jamail, an independent journalist currently based
in Baghdad. He is one of the only independent, unembedded
journalists in Iraq right now. He publishes his reports
on a blog called DahrJamailIraq.com.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
|
Listen
to the show
Help
whole
show
