Venez: Is Carlos Ortega Closer to CIA than Carmona?

Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit

Caracas Coup Plotters:

CARLOS ORTEGA'S CIA CONNECTIONS CLOSER THAN CARMONA'S

(original article in espanol follows english translation and
analysis):

http://www.eldia.es/2002-02-17/venezuela/venezuela4.htm

El Dia.es - February 17, 2002

U.S.A. receives Carlos Ortega, president of the CTV

SPECIAL SERVICE, Caracas

Otto Reich, assistant secretary for Western Hemispheric Affairs,
received Carlos Ortega at the State Department. Ortega is president
of the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV).

The labor leader was invited by the American Center for International 
Labor Solidarity of the AFL-CIO, the oldest and most important trade 
union in the US, to hear his ideas (analysis, explanation) about the 
situation of the labor movement in Venezuela. Lourdes Kistler, director 
of the Americas Program of the AFL-CIO, said that the purpose of the 
meeting was to learn how trade unionists are treated in Venezuela. 
Ortega's agenda and interviews with officials of the US Government 
were arranged by the AFL-CIO.
                     ______________________

 From an article on US funding channeled to the coup conspirators,
 published in the NY Times - April 25, 2002:

[...]

Of particular concern is $154,377 given by the [National Endowment
for Democracy] to the American Center for International Labor
Solidarity, the international arm of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., to assist the
main Venezuelan labor union in advancing labor rights.

The Venezuelan union, the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers [CTV],
led the work stoppages that galvanized the opposition to Mr. Chavez.
The union's leader, Carlos Ortega, worked closely with Pedro Carmona
Estanga, the businessman who briefly took over from Mr. Chavez, in
challenging the government.

                    ________________________

According to Daniel Brandt of Namebase Online ( http://www.pir.org ),
the executive director of the American Center for International Labor
Solidarity is Harry Kamberis.

Harry Kamberis is in the 1977 State Department Biographical Register,
and he looks like CIA:

 "Kamberis, Harry G -- b. 3/15/44. STATE Dept R-7 1/72.
  Dacca cons off 6/72. R-6 4/74. Islamabad pol off 7/75."

This is a very typical entry for a CIA officer under State Department
cover. From 1986-1996, before getting selected for the new American
Center for International Labor Solidarity, Kamberis was working for
the Asian American Free Labor Institute, which had numerous CIA
connections throughout the Cold War.

                    __________________________

articulo en espanol:

El Dia.es - 17 de febrero 2002


EE.UU reconoce a Carlos Ortega como presidente del CTV

SERVICIO ESPECIAL, Caracas

Otto Reich, subsecretario de Estado para Asuntos del Hemisferio
Occidental, recibió en el Departamento de Estado, a Carlos Ortega,
presidente de la Confederación de Trabajadores de Venezuela (CTV).

El líder laboral fue invitado por la Federación Americana del Trabajo
Congreso de Organizaciones de la Industria, la organización sindical
más importante y antigua de EE.UU, para oír sus planteamientos sobre
la situación del movimiento laboral venezolana. Lourdes Kistler,
directora del programa de las Américas de la AFL-CIO informó que
Ortega fue convocado para conocer cómo son tratados los
sindicalistas. La agenda de Ortega y las entrevistas con funcionarios
del Gobierno de EE.UU fueron concertadas por la AFL-CIO.

(c) Copyright 2000, Editorial  LEONCIO RODRIGUEZ, S.A. 

 
=================================================================
  NY Transfer News Collective   *   A Service of Blythe Systems 
           Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us          
              339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012             
  http://www.blythe.org                  e-mail: nyt@blythe.org 
=================================================================
 
nytsa-04.29.02-13:28:22-1191