CIA Stories

In the last few days, Telesur has run a number of stories about alleged CIA interference with at least three Latin American countries. Starting Wednesday, Telesur had extensive coverage of a diplomatic row that erupted between the U.S. and Argentina after CIA director Leon Panetta warned in a speech that, “Argentina, Ecuador, and Venezuela are in dire economic straits and could be destabilized by the global economic crisis”.

Argentina summoned its U.S. ambassador demanding an explanation and apparently received an apology by phone from Panetta, although the apology has so far only been reported by Spanish language news sites. Interestingly, Telesur has focused less on the Venezuelan government’s own response to the comments: a story appeared quietly on the website about Chavez demanding an apology from Obama for the comments, but the Argentinian response has gotten a lot more attention.

On Thursday, Telesur ran a story about alleged CIA infiltration of the Bolivian state oil company (YPFB). The headline was “Morales Denounces CIA Actions Against Progressive Governments,” and included complaints from the Bolivian president about “covert CIA operations” in the scandal-plagued Bolivian state oil company.

Friday, Telesur ran an exclusive interview with Ecuador’s security minister, Miguel Carvajal, who claimed a recent investigation uncovered evidence of CIA payments to informants within Ecuadorian state agencies, including agencies involved in “operations against transnational organized crime and drugdealing.” Carvajal called the CIA’s involvement “unacceptable”.

The stories draw on a legacy of covert CIA operations in South America, especially during the 1970’s, which has instilled permanent suspicions about the agency among a lot of Latin Americans. American interference with Latin America, and particularly with Venezuela, has been an ongoing theme on Telesur.