Venezuela action items from the Center for Security Policy

The Center for Security Policy issued a list of policy recommendations for how the US should deal with Venezuela.

Those recommendations include:

1. Issue a presidential finding that would allow covert action against the Venezuelan regime.
2. Create an Inter-Agency Working Group on Venezuela that is run from the National Security Council.
3. Create a bipartisan White House Working Group on Venezuela for working with non-governmental organizations.
4. Systematically collect intelligence on Venezuelan leaders and officials, and use the information for psychological warfare campaigns to undermine the regime.
5. Ramp up a surrogate radio, TV and Internet media outlet for Venezuela, along the lines of Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe, so they will be in place by the time the regime has extinguished the opposition media.
6. Ban all US government purchases of CITGO fuel and products, to stop transfers of US tax dollars to the Venezuelan government.
7. Ban all US government purchases of EADS CASA aircraft, in response for EADS CASA's insistence on selling military aircraft to Caracas.
8. Work with Latin American governments, even those on the left, to isolate the Chavez regime.

These policy recommendations are important, because the Center for Security Policy has been highly influential behind the scenes at the Pentagon, in Congress and in the intelligence community. Last week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, other senior officials from the Department of Defense, intelligence community and White House, and several congressmen and senators attended the Center's annual awards dinner. The Venezuela paper is the Center's first product since that event.

For the full text of the Center for Security Policy paper, click here.