# "OPERATION PLIERS": CIA planning interference/coup in Venezuela referendum? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 29, 2007, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196 "2007-11-29T17:36:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/21 "2007-11-29T22:56:14Z")
> [@](#): > > On a scarier note, an internal CIA memorandum has been obtained by Venezuelan counterintelligence **from the US Embassy** in Caracas that reveals a very sinister - almost fantastical, were it not true - plan to destabilize Venezuela during the coming days. Me, I’m just upset that Venezuela is committing acts of espionage on US territory. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/22 "2007-11-29T23:43:30Z")
Figured [this](http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071129/wl_nm/venezuela_referendum_dc;_ylt=AlG7t_Y6X05jB8ypDXBnkg.s0NUE) would be a good place to dump this. Make your own determinations if this could possibly have any impact on the accusations cited in the OP: > [@](#): > > Chavez opponents show force in referendum rally > > CARACAS (Reuters) - More than 100,000 Venezuelans held a rally on Thursday in the opposition’s biggest show of force before a tight vote on whether President Hugo Chavez will be allowed to run for reelection as long as he lives. > > A sea of “No” voters surged across the capital Caracas into a central square, vowing to stop Chavez from winning more power in a referendum on Sunday in a polarized nation that already has few checks on its leftist firebrand president. > > A student movement that rose up in May when Chavez shut a television station has led an outcry against reforms that the opposition political parties, the Roman Catholic church and human rights groups denounce as authoritarian. > > “We are winning back democracy,” Freddy Guevara, a student leader wearing a red T-shirt emblazoned with “No,” shouted from a podium at the rally. “There is no doubt that if everybody goes to vote, we will win.” > > The crowd waved Venezuela’s red-blue-and-yellow flag and chanted “No, no, no” against a constitutional overhaul that also enshrines socialism as a state priority. > [@](#): > > Chavez usually coasts to victory against a fragmented opposition. But polls this time show the anti-U.S. president and Cuba ally in the toughest campaign of his career. Perhaps…just maybe mind you…perhaps Chavez is feeling a bit of pressure and wants to divert attention from the whole President For Life thingy by rallying the troops against the Evil US Aggression and Mad Bush™? It’s a thought… -XT ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/23 "2007-11-29T23:56:06Z")
Beyond anything else, do any of the following plans seem realistic for an intelligence agency?: > [@](#): > > - Take the streets and protest with violent, disruptive actions across the nation > - Provoke a general uprising in a substantial part of the population > - Creating an acceptance in the public opinion that the NO vote will win for sure > - Generate a sensation of fraud And all of these would be more along the lines of State Department: > [@](#): > > - Isolating Chavez in the international community > - Trying to achieve unity amongst the opposition > - Seek an aliance between those abstentionists and those who will vote “NO” > - Sustain firmly the propaganda against Chavez Now, this really is a question, in that I’d be happy to see cites of the CIA using such techniques, but as it is, I don’t see how it even _could_, much less _would_. (Obviously, a coup wouldn’t be at all unrealistic, though I’m dubious that the CIA is planning one of those, either.) An accusation that the CIA is going to “protest with violent, disruptive actions” does, however, serve all too well to discredit valid groups that wish to protest Chavez. So yeah, this is pretty obviously bullshit. ETA: if this work is supposed to be a quotation, I should note that I could imagine an American describing anti-Chavez literature as “propaganda”. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/24 "2007-11-30T00:03:55Z")
Meh. More of the same. This is just the prep work for Chavez trying to milk something out of what little might happen during the referendum. The reality is that the opposition has no plan for this referendum. There is no real chance of it ending against Chavez and nobody seems inclined to do anything. There will be some little rioting and looting. Some from opposition extremists and random opportunists trying to save a buck on their christmas shopping. There will also be some “rioting” by the chavistas, all conveniently close to the businesses of opposition members, who still have accounts to settle with the government. Other than that, expect nothing. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/25 "2007-11-30T01:01:19Z")
[QUOTE=straight man] Beyond anything else, do any of the following plans seem realistic for an intelligence agency?: And all of these would be more along the lines of State Department: [/QUOTE] Eh? The CIA (which has notorious difficulty in remembering that it is supposed to be an **intelligence** agency and nothing more) did exactly that sort of thing (and far worse) in Central America in the '70s and '80s. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/26 "2007-11-30T01:04:08Z")
[QUOTE=marshmallow] It’s fake. I can tell because of how awesome “Operation Pliers” sounds. Most of the time it’s either a jumble of letters or, if the activities are super dirty, some non-threatening noun (e.g. Project Shamrock, Operation Mockingbird, Operation Washtub, Operation Charly). The only one I can think up that was “radical” was Operation CHAOS, but that sounds like the villain’s plan from a Saturday morning cartoon. [/QUOTE] Ah, those were the days . . . Nowadays, operations “code”-names all seem to have been cooked up by marketing departments: Operation Desert Shield, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Infinite Justice . . . Bush I’s invasion of Panama was **actually** called Operation Just Cause :rolleyes: . . . ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/27 "2007-11-30T01:10:56Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Eh? The CIA (which has notorious difficulty in remembering that it is supposed to be an intelligence agency and nothing more) did exactly that sort of thing (and far worse) in Central America in the '70s and '80s. [/QUOTE] Well…two things. First off, the CIA didn’t do things like what is supposedly in this sooper sekrit CIA report in your OP. They did DIFFERENT bad things. The second things is…we know what the CIA did in Central and South America. Get it? Seriously…why are you willing to buy into this transparent piece of crap? Is it really so opaque to you that Chavez MIGHT be using anti-American sentiment to distract from his own problems at home? Use your own Occam’s Razor on this BG…is it more likely that the CIA is both sinister enough to cook this up, brilliant and far reaching enough to have that laundry list of things they are supposedly doing, and stupid enough to leave the cook book out where some schmo can pick it up and continently carry it to the eagle eyed Venezuelan authorities? Or is it a simpler explanation that Chavez et al simply cooked this up to divert from the very real things going on politically in Venezuela atm? Yeah, the US COULD be doing these things. And maybe something resembling proof (that is believable by more than you) will come to light. Until them my own BS detector is pretty much pegged out over this thing… -XT ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/28 "2007-11-30T02:07:46Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] We’re not talking about a **contingency,** we’re talking about a plan that would have to be implemented this week if at all – the referendum at issue being scheduled for this coming Sunday. Once again, I hope there’s nothing to it. [/QUOTE] To wit, that plan sounds pretty far-fetched. The CIA has no capability to do any such thing, and the “plan” is ludicrously vague, containing no mention of any resources which would be required to carry out this far-reaching plan, certainly not in a week. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/29 "2007-11-30T02:08:43Z")
[QUOTE=xtisme] Seriously…why are you willing to buy into this transparent piece of crap? Is it really so opaque to you that Chavez MIGHT be using anti-American sentiment to distract from his own problems at home? [/quote] Not at all. It’s perfectly plausible. And that’s what I **hope** it is. But the alternative is also plausible, based on the CIA’s track record, **including** the role they and other U.S. agencies very probably played in the first attempt to oust Chavez. One of the underappreciated consequences of bad behavior is that it makes it so much easier for others to slander you when you’re innocent. [QUOTE=xtisme] Use your own Occam’s Razor on this BG…is it more likely that the CIA is both sinister enough to cook this up, brilliant and far reaching enough to have that laundry list of things they are supposedly doing, and stupid enough to leave the cook book out where some schmo can pick it up and continently carry it to the eagle eyed Venezuelan authorities? [/QUOTE] Based on the CIA’s track record for both evil and incompetence, that is entirely plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/30 "2007-11-30T02:14:35Z")
[QUOTE=lalenin] Excellent point, the spanish name is also very cool and spy-like, “Operacion Tenaza”, which means pliers, but also means pincers or forceps, and is somewhat reminiscent of “amenaza” or threat. [/QUOTE] “Operacion Tenaza” (Operation Pliers) does sound like a typical name for the Venezuelan police forces, btw. Another good reason to believe this is all cooked by the local government. They used a Venezuelan naming convention instead of the CIA’s. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/31 "2007-11-30T02:42:46Z")
I don’t see any way to clear away the muck here, its a wilderness of mirrors, to borrow the phrase. Is it extraordinary to believe that the CIA is screwing with Chavez, somethilng which requires an exceptional level of proof to accept? You mean, like I try to suggest that Kieth Richards may be on drugs? Nothing extraordinary about it, you’d be harder pressed to find a country in Central or South America that we _didn’t_ screw around with! As well, we have to consider that Chavez has other enemies (me, for one, and any other self-respecting lefty…) Chavez has pissed off a lot of rich people and rich companies, and they have resources, too, not just the CIA. There are probably all kinds of plots to affect the election afoot, some subtle and some other comic-opera boffo. Fingerprints are hard to come by. Now, aside from the obvious political benefit for Chavez in rattling the US boogeyman, there is the likelihood that he truly believes it, CIAanoia is both a delusion and a survival skill in Latin America. He may be exaggerating a genuine effort, or mistaking one enemy for another. Anybody who speaks about this with any level of assurance, like we actually _know_, is almost certainly wrong. I was willing to cut him some slack to start with, but his true colors are becoming more clear every day, he is but another political opportunist exploiting a populist and egalitarian movement for his own glorification. He and GeeDubya deserve each other, unfortunately, neither we not the Venezualans deserve either of them. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/32 "2007-11-30T03:26:49Z")
Incidentally, for those who didn’t decide to explore the OP’s site, GlobalResearch.ca, has many more articles on topics like the [North American Union](http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6456), [9/11 conspiracy theories](http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7482), and many, many more. So if it’s not already obvious, this particular site is miles (okay, kilometers) beyond credible. ETA: **Brainglutton** , my point was not that the CIA wouldn’t do anything bad or subversive. I merely fail to see that this operation matches their modus operandi at _all_ and would like a citation to the contrary. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/33 "2007-11-30T03:28:01Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Now, aside from the obvious political benefit for Chavez in rattling the US boogeyman, there is the likelihood that he truly believes it, CIAanoia is both a delusion and a survival skill in Latin America. He may be exaggerating a genuine effort, or mistaking one enemy for another. [/QUOTE] Unless you credit Chavez with a Hitleresque energy and capacity to keep on top of every little thing, it is also possible that the memo in the OP is disinformation spread by somebody in the Venezuelan intelligence service, but without Chavez’ knowledge or connivance; and it might even be intended to fool **him,** for reasons related to some intragovernmental power-struggle. Hall of mirrors indeed. ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/34 "2007-11-30T03:28:49Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Unless you credit Chavez with a Hitleresque energy and capacity to keep on top of every little thing, it is also possible that the memo in the OP is disinformation spread by somebody in the Venezuelan intelligence service, but without Chavez’ knowledge or connivance; and it might even be intended to fool **him,** for reasons related to some intragovernmental power-struggle. Hall of mirrors indeed. [/QUOTE] Yeah. Except it works directly to his benefit. Some power struggle. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/35 "2007-11-30T03:36:37Z")
[QUOTE=straight man] Yeah. Except it works directly to his benefit. Some power struggle. [/QUOTE] When the leader’s position is unchallenged, there can still be plenty of jockeying for position in the top echelons. There are countless examples in history – in monarchies, in dictatorships, and in genuine republics. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/36 "2007-11-30T04:56:11Z")
The obvious conclusion is that this is disinformation. And why? Let’s look at the claims, and try to figure out why Chavez might attempt to put this idea out there now: > [@](#): > > Take the streets and protest with violent, disruptive actions across the nation Isn’t it convenient that now if there are protests over the election, Chavez can have his goons crack heads and arrest people. After all, they’re enemy agents - plants by the CIA. This gives him cover to break up protests should he need to. > [@](#): > > Generate a climate of ungovernability Declaring that people are ‘ungovernable’ is all the justification you need to institute martial law or otherwise suspend any sort of due process. And it helps if the reason they are ungovernable is because the evil U.S. is at fault. > [@](#): > > Provoke a general uprising in a substantial part of the population So now if there’s a general uprising, Chavez can claim that it was created by the CIA, and not really a sign of his unpopularity. > [@](#): > > Engage in a “plan to implode” the voting centers on election day by encouraging opposition voters to “VOTE and REMAIN” in their centers to agitate others Right. So now if some anti-Chavez voters show up, they can be frog-marched out by the police and the polling station can be shut down. > [@](#): > > Start to release data during the early hours of the afternoon on Sunday that favor the NO vote (in clear violation of election regulations) And this helps defuse the political damage Chavez would take if the results actually trend against him. > [@](#): > > Coordinate these activities with Ravell & Globovision and international press agencies Never heard of Ravell and Globovision, but assuming these are legitimate press agencies, Chavez now has an excuse to shut them down as well if he doesn’t like what they are reporting. And, for good measure he can kick the foreign press out of the country if their reporting would be embarassing. > [@](#): > > Coordinate with ex-militar officers and coupsters Pena Esclusa and Guyon Cellis - this will be done by the Military Attache for Defense and Army at the US Embassy in Caracas, Office of Defense, Attack and Operations (DAO) And now he’s got an excuse to arrest them as well. This is right out of the old revolutionary playbook. Despots on both the right and left have been using these tactics forever. Really, Brainglutton. Put on your thinking cap. If this intel was real, do you really think the only place you’d hear about it is from a nutty Marxist “research organization”? I mean really… This organization specializes in ‘alternate 9/11 theories’. It’s a collection of whack jobs and fanatics. Back in Stalin’s day, he had a term for people like this. He called them ‘useful idiots’. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/37 "2007-11-30T06:16:04Z")
Lenin (attrib.) ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/38 "2007-11-30T06:56:49Z")
Hmmm… > [@](#): > > To: Agent X > From: The Mastermind > Re: Operation Evil Stuff, in Venezuela, carried out by the CIA, shhhh, don’t tell anybody. > > First of all, Agent X, it is imperative that this detailed, unencrypted and signed memo does not fall into enemy hands. You could always encrypt it, or burn it, or something. But come on, throwing it out in the waste paper basket will probably thwart any counter intelligence agents. Be sure to mark the waste basket with the big bright yellow tape. Yes, the tape that says “keep away, boring, no secret documents here.” > > Okay, so here’s our plan. Chavez is a force for all that is good and right in this world, and we, America, have to stop him. And make money. And laugh in an evil manner. Pay attention Agent X, you slacker. Laugh you bastard, laugh! > > So, first thing’s first: > > -Aim the death ray at Chavez. Please be sure to remove the “property of the CIA” tags before turning on the death ray. We don’t want a repeat of the unfortunate 9/11 incident. Some people are just too close to guessing the truth there! > -Arm the mind control device, and make sure that Valenzuela’s population does not support Chavez’ actions. It’ll take a mind control beam, because who but a zomboid slave could possibly find fault with Saint Chavez? > -Protest violently. Be sure to wear your Acme Disguise Kits[sup]tm[/sup] so that you do not look like pasty white guys who went to Yale. And take off your damn class rings this time! > -Rev up the mind control machine, and make people think that a tin plated thug of a dictator might possibly do something untoward when he’s attempting to gain power. You’ll probably need to add some juice to the mind control machine since this is just a totally unlikely scenario that nobody would think of on their own. > -Use evil Zionist/Neocon/Trilateral/Skull and Bones magic to convince the rest of the world that someone who referred to Aznar as a fascist might just not be all there, upstairs. Again, this will require magic as Chavez’ behavior cannot possibly drive the international community away from supporting him, paragon of truth and justice that he is. Get the grimoire. Yes, the good one. > -Further, tarnish Chavez’ good name. This part will be really hard, but hey, we’re the CIA. We can make even a paragon of decency like Chavez seem unsavory, at least to fellow evil warmongering capitalists. The true salt of the earth, honest, intelligent, perceptive socialists will remain unperturbed and their support for El Presidente will not waver. This is unavoidable, and it’s too bad they’re not Muslims, or we’d bomb them. > -Thwart democracy. This part is important. > > Contingency Plan: > > -Claim that the people of Venezuela really were Muslims. Or at least “brown people”, since we are ruthless, evil _racist_ neocons. Then nuke them from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure. > > Now, if all goes according to plan, Venezuela’s oil will be in our hands (not literally, that’d be messy) within months. Or, failing that, Venezuela will be reduced to a nice sheet of glass and our quota for Evil will totally be filled for at least the next year or two. > > And because this unencrypted message that isn’t even in a cypher could never be intercepted by anybody, I will now sign off using my real name as well as identifying exactly who this memo is directed towards. . Thank you for your time and attention Agent X (a.k.a. Paul Peck) > > Sincerely, > Stan Smith (The Mastermind) > > P.S. What could possibly go wrong? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/39 "2007-11-30T07:05:45Z")
:smack: I knew we should have encrypted that document. It’s just, this was my first time as agent X (a.k.a. Paul Peck). Why did you have to show that document in its entirety Finn?? I had them more than half believing that the US would never do anything like that…everyone but that cursed BG. If it wasn’t for those rotten kids and their little dog it would have worked, too…curses! -XT ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2007, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196/40 "2007-11-30T11:17:51Z")
Too good (for Chavez) to be true, also emanates from Venezuela`s own frigging intelligence services, the stench of fish on all this could make a crab puke. I´ve been reading the [original cite in Spanish language](http://www.aporrea.org/tiburon/n105390.html) and it`s embarrasing (that and the whole site), I`d dare to say it`s an obvious forgery by the use of the language. For once if this was an american memo, written in English, the operation would be called Operation Pincers, not Pliers; pliers being a translation of “pinzas” as mentioned here: > [@](#): > > La combinación de las anteriores pinzas o bisagras (impedir el referéndum, denunciar el fraude y tomar la calle ) On a strategic context you don´t make a pliers maneouver, you make a pincers maneouver. Then on a secret memo you don`t name all your contacts for no reason at all, it has a long list of supposed collaborators and where they work/operate. It`s a laundry list of people to get shuned, prosecuted or whatever. This part is a riot: > [@](#): > > ejecutar las acciones militares de apoyo a las movilizaciones y tomas propagandísticas, culminar los aprestos operacionales de nuestras fuerzas acantonadas en la Base aledaña. El apoyo de los equipos externos provenientes del país verde y azul, esta coordinado, la acción marítima de azul esta prevista y, las fronteras con verde en los puntos determinados esta libre. “..excute the military actions in support for the movilizations and propaganda takes (?), finish the operational preparations of our forces garrisoned on the adjoining bases. The support from the external teams from the green and blue country, has been coordinated, the naval action of blue has been anticipated and the borders with green on the predetermined points are free.” This is pure Chavista porn, armies at the border readty to pounce from the “green and blue” country? Give me a break. Of course the US has done shit along this lines before, but c´mon, the only thing missing from that memo is a sketch of Snidely Whiplash twirling his moustache. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-pliers-cia-planning-interference-coup-in-venezuela-referendum/428196.md?page=3)