And as we speak, millions of oil dollars flow daily into Chavez' off shore numbered bank accounts. He will be one of the richest men in the world before this amazing scam is over.
……………As part of that process, Mr. Espinoza said, the government has begun building community cultural centers in rural and provincial areas, each with a price tag "less than the cost of an apartment here in Caracas." The government cultural budget is also being increased by more than $100 million, making spending on culture more than double that under the previous government.
But "redefining culture," as Mr. Espinoza calls it, also involves shifting the focus from the fine arts toward artisanry and other forms of expression with a practical political purpose. "It is necessary for the state to stimulate the creative powers of the people so as to encourage their participation in the process of social mobilization and integration," he said.
Mr. Chávez, 46, is a former Army colonel who in 1992 led an unsuccessful coup attempt here. Little is known about his own tastes in the arts, other than his habit of singing folk songs or quoting the poetry of Walt Whitman during his long speeches, but his views on the relationship between politics and culture could not be clearer.
"Culture needs to be at the service of development, not at the service of elites which have led a distorted cultural process," he said in a recent speech. Speaking of his government and its policies, he added that he aspired to "a culture that is at the service of the human revolution, of creation, of the liberation of the Venezuelan people."
The purge that Mr. Chávez ordered has affected all 36 government cultural institutions here, from museums and orchestras to theater groups and the state publishing house, Mr. Espinoza said. But the ouster of Ms. Imber as the head of a museum that added her name to its title a decade ago as an homage to her efforts is seen by Mr. Chávez's critics as emblematic of the increasingly sectarian nature of the revolutionary process.***
February 2002 - Chavez security chief alleges FARC links***The former DISIP official called on the Armed Forces to issue a statement about their view of the Chávez government's alleged support for the Colombian guerrillas.
Egui Bastidas also made a number of revelations about DISIP activities in recent months. He said the Venezuelan security service had collected personal information about all serving military officers and had also tried to smear opposition figures, such as Alberto Pena, the mayor of Metropolitan Caracas. The official said he was also concerned at the growing role of Russian and Cuban security advisers in Venezuela.
Egui Bastidas said he had experienced "the direct participation and the attempts at indoctrination by the Russian and Cuban intelligence services, who have direct and virtually unlimited access within the Helicoide (DISIP's headquarters building)."