is back and up to its old tricks again.
http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipients/ned.htmYou may also be aware that shortly after the 2002 coup, the State Department gave the NED a $1 million special fund that was distributed to organizations in Venezuela, some of whose leaders supported the coup and even participated in the coup government. This has been widely documented. To any outside observer, these grants appear to financially reward those individuals involved in illegal and anti-constitutional activities aimed at overthrowing our democratic government and replacing it with a dictatorship.
http://www.anti-imperialist.org/venezuela-ned-letter_11-20-04.htmIn March 31 remarks before the OAS Permanent Council, Maisto defended the efforts of the NED in Venezuela and worldwide while rejecting charges by Venezuelan ambassador to the OAS Jorge Valero that the United States has employed the NED to support anti-democratic activities in Venezuela aimed at ousting President Hugo Chavez.
"I will not waste the council's time with a detailed response to the repeated absurdities coming from Venezuelan officials," Maisto said. "My government is proud to promote democracy and democratic institutions in the hemisphere. In fact, Mr. Chair, my government supports efforts aimed at strengthening democracy and democratic institutions not only in Venezuela, but worldwide."
http://usinfo.state.gov/dhr/Archive/2004/Apr/02-266403.htmlOver the years the NED has been particularly active in Central America, with projects as well in the Philippines and Eastern Europe. They've also focused a lot of organizational support on the Cuban exile community. The NED describes itself as a "private, nonprofit, grant-making organization created in 1983 to strengthen democratic institutions around the world." This description doesn't do the organization justice. In reality, throughout the 1980s the NED helped turn Central America into low-intensity killing-fields.
<snip>
A CIA surrogate In 1991, Allen Weinstein, who helped draft the legislation establishing the NED, pointed out that "a lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA." At the Third World Traveler Web site, an excerpt from William Blum's book "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower" (Common Courage Press, 2000), reminds us that in the years just prior to the NED's founding, Washington was a-buzz with several major investigations going on simultaneously into the shenanigans of the Central Intelligence Agency. These included the Church committee of the Senate, the Pike committee of the House, and the Rockefeller Commission, created by the president."
"The idea was that the NED would do somewhat overtly what the CIA had been doing covertly for decades," Blum writes, "and thus, hopefully, eliminate the stigma associated with CIA covert activities. It was a masterpiece. Of politics, of public relations, and of cynicism."
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=11645See also:
http://www.mediatransparency.org/people/vin_weber.htmINTERNATIONAL FREE PRESS AND OPEN MEDIA ACT OF 2004
.... The committee notes that the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a non-governmental organization, has been providing excellent work in the field of human rights and democratic institution building. The NED was founded in 1983 and recognized by Congress in the National Endowment of Democracy Act (P.L. 98-164)
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/T?&report=sr246&dbname=cp108&On the day the Senate approved the conference report, articles of incorporation were filed in the District of Columbia on behalf of the National Endowment for Democracy. The Endowment was established as a nonprofit organization under section 501c (3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code.
http://www.ned.org/about/nedhistory.htmlDoes NED only fund groups opposed to the ruling party in Venezuela?
http://www.ned.org/grants/venezuelaFacts.htmlAs a 501(c)3 organization, the NED's list of grantees is open to public inspection. The NED doles out over 300 grants per year, with the average grant amount topping $50,000. The four biggest recipients, by far, are the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the AFL-CIO-affiliated American Center for International Labor Solidarity, and the pro-business Center for International Private Enterprise.
<snip>
The most common complaint is that the NED's money only goes to support movements and politicians that fit into the United States' foreign-policy objectives, regardless of whether those who receive the money engage in undemocratic campaigns. Most recently, the left assailed the NED for its indirect support of Venezuelan groups that were active in attempts to overthrow democratically elected President Hugo Chavez.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2094293/ IRC section 501(c)(3) organizations are restricted in the amount of political and legislative (lobbying) activities they may conduct. For a detailed discussion, see Political and Lobbying Activities. For further information regarding lobbying activities by charities, see the article Lobbying Issues; for more information regarding political activities of charities, see the FY-2002 CPE topic Election Year Issues.
http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=96099,00.htmlSo, there you have it.
US tax dollars at work.
Incidentally, this model was so successful that the Republicans have now adapted it to internal politics. Most of the rightwing organizations that are working to destablize democracy within the US, are themselves also 501(c)(3) tax exempt entities that draw much of their monies directly from the US taxpayer. In other words, the US is financing its own demise as a democratic nation.
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