The United States has its very own mercenary here in Venezuela

www.vheadline.com Posted: Monday, February 17, 2003 By: Mark Webber

Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 16:06:07 +0000 From: Mark Webber schwebb@hotmail.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: Trinidad Express: Otto, the Fourth Reich

Dear Editor: I recently read the article "Trinidad Express: Otto, the Fourth Reich" with great sadness as I have been aware of the US government's horrible legacy in Latin America and the work of Otto Reich prior to reading this article.

I found this article to be a great reminder of the US' intentions in Latin America and a good review for those who are just coming into their own political enlightenment.

However, one does not even have to look even as far as Trinidad to find people who have been involved with the atrocities committed in Latin America by the United States.

We have our very own mercenary here in Venezuela ... none other than our illustrious US Ambassador Charles Shapiro who served as a "political officer" for the US State Department during the US' involvement in El Salvador.

The following is an excerpt that is taken from a Los Angeles Times article dated December 6, 1986, from the Metro Section (Part 2, page 4 column 1) and written by a staff writer, William Overend.

"A US State Department political officer testified Friday in Los Angeles federal court that 'the human rights situation has improved dramatically' in El Salvador, but refused to answer dozens of questions about military death squads and persecution of civilians."

"While conceding that he had 'adverse information' about conditions in El Salvador, Charles S. Shapiro, political officer at the US Embassy in San Salvador, claimed executive privilege in refusing to provide any negative details of what the US government knows about human rights."

Shapiro is later quoted in the article as saying "Human rights is part of our policy ...it's not our only policy ... I'm proud of what we've done in El Salvador ... we have helped move the system along to where the human rights situation has improved dramatically."

Many of us know what took place in El Salvador, and what was ultimately discovered to have taken place during the US involvement there.

Lest we forget that lesson and the involvement of the US' ambassador to Venezuela ... as I have contended in a letter to The Daily Journal last year after the coup ... it is very suspicious that Shapiro was sent here as the talks with the Carmona gang were happening in Washington (pre coup).

This is definitely a case where those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. So I offer a bit of advice to the Venezuelan government, don't turn your back on this guy!

Eventually, Shapiro and others like him will have to answer for what they have done, even if it is from there own children, who are smart enough to do an Internet search as I have done.

I don't think claiming executive privilege will help him out of that bind...

Sincerely, Mark Webber schwebb@hotmail.com