Interviews with Cristal Montañéz Baylor

The entire Latin American continent is in danger… The freedom of the entire American continent is in danger, above all when at this moment we see that there are Iranian bases in Venezuela, when at this time we see that the regime is maintaining a civil militia to crush and eliminate the national army and to control the elections of 2012.

We have continued to work to expose the various relations between Chavez and governments that are enemies of the world, exposing the Axis of Evil that was being formed. A very obvious relationship with Cuba, with Russia – and at that time Iranians were extracting uranium from Venezuelan soil, which unfortunately led to what is happening today.

Today, in 2011, we have Iranian soldiers of the Revolutionary Guard established in our country, with our armed forces as their superiors, establishing themselves in numerous bases, and also expanding their influence throughout all of Latin America using the resources of Venezuela.

Now, I ask myself, does this not present a danger for the security of the whole world? Not only for Venezuela, not only for the Western Hemisphere, but rather for the entire world? And again, we Venezuelans abroad began to expose all of the things that began occurring in 2006, that were evident for anyone to see, we began to expose this to the relevant international organizations. To be truthful, I cannot say we received any cooperation, and in the majority of cases we didn´t even receive a response to these accusations. It was like Venezuela is over there, so nothing will really happen. Chavez is considered an irrational person, but there is no real serious threat in his policies, so we won´t take him seriously. Unfortunately, by not paying attention, the result is that Venezuelans are paying a very high price in a country where there is no right to property, where there is no respect for human rights, where there is no law, where there is no structure, and where all the powers are in the hands of one single man – the dictator of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez Frias.

Cristal Montañéz Baylor is a freedom and democracy activist. She was born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1960. A former model and Miss Venezuela, Cristal began her work as an activist during the 1978 Venezuelan presidential election.

After Hugo Chavez came to power in Venezuela, Cristal served as the International Coordinator for the Resistencia Civil de Venezolanos en el Exterior. In collaboration with other organizations, she mobilized Venezuelan and international communities to protest the Chavez government’s crackdown on civil liberties and political rights. In 2004, Chavez’s administration responded by accusing Cristal of destabilizing the Venezuelan government and the National Electoral Council.

From 2003 to 2008, Cristal served as president of the International Venezuelan Council for Democracy (IVCD), an organization dedicated to advancing democratic values, preserving Venezuela’s tradition of free and fair elections, and promoting government accountability. Under her leadership, the IVCD worked to counter propaganda and misinformation campaigns by Chavez’s government.

Cristal now lives in Houston, Texas where she works to advance democracy, justice, and peace. In this capacity, Cristal leads efforts to educate activists on nonviolent action against oppressive regimes. Cristal also sits on the Hashoo Foundation’s U.S. Board of Directors, an organization that empowers vulnerable communities by facilitating their access to opportunity and promoting more tolerant and inclusive societies.