Interviews with Claudio Jose Sandoval

The government tries to stigmatize international cooperation, particularly international cooperation that comes from the United States. They accuse, in Marxist terms, “the Empire” of contributing to the destabilization of the political regime in Venezuela, which is false, because the United States, through their policy of international cooperation, is trying to spread the vision of democracy in Venezuela. And international cooperation is transparent. That has been recorded in several reports published not only in the United States but in the European Union. Venezuelan organizations also publish their reports, and they specify the way they redistribute their funds to carry out their mission and vision.

On the other hand, Venezuela´s government has also maintained an aggressive and somewhat violent attitude in the political discourse with different nations, as in the case of the United States, for example, precisely because of its Marxist vision. So they are accusing the government of the United States, the United States, of being a corrupted and immoral capitalist model. However, today, Venezuelan civil society is very concerned because we see how President Chávez is developing a circle of very dangerous friends. Who are Chávez´s current friends? North Korea, Iran — with which he is trying to strengthen relations in regard to nuclear cooperation. With Fidel Castro, Cuba, a totalitarian Marxist state.

I am basically talking about three fundamental issues: terrorism, nuclear cooperation, and drug trafficking. Chávez maintains close relations with the FARC, which is a guerrilla terrorist group in Colombia. He maintains relations with Iran, with whom every day the relations are becoming closer for strengthening of nuclear programs. We all know that Iran is trying to carry out nuclear programs not only for peaceful purposes but also for armament purposes. He also has a very tight relationship with Cuba. Today in Venezuela, we talk about VeneCuba, because something very serious happened, that could be classified as a crime of treason.

Cuban espionage, the Cuban G-2, can be found within the situation rooms of the government. It is even present within the armed forces, making decisions on intelligence. Today, Chávez´s government has been involved, with proof, in cases of drug trafficking. They publically recognized that one of their members, who was Governor of Carabobo, was supported by a drug trafficker, who was arrested in Colombia and is going to be extradited to Venezuela, Walid Makled.

Claudio Jose Sandoval is a Venezuelan human rights advocate. He was trained in social work and studied law at Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas. After the government of President Hugo Chávez closed down the country’s largest private television network, RCTV, in 2007, Sandoval became active in student organizations supporting freedom and democracy in Venezuela. He was active in the pro-democracy coalition Foro por la Vida (Forum for Life) and co-founded an organization called Generación de los Puentes (Generation of Bridges). His book “Beyond the Student Movement” discusses how Venezuela might achieve national reconciliation.