Tweet
<span style="font-weight: bold">News Source: OTGNR - </span>
<span style="font-weight: bold"> Wikileaks ' cablegate ' on Haiti and Cuba ( BBC )...</span>
Haitian President Rene Preval is characterised as "isolated" but "indispensible" in a 2009 US diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks.The whistleblowing website quoted another memo which said Cuban intelligence agents have deep involvement in Venezuela.These are some of the references to Caribbean nations in the batches of 'revelations' so far.The June 2009 memo about Mr Preval sent under the name of then US Ambassador to Haiti Janet Sanderson was released by Wikileaks along with an earlier cable about the president.It said the primary concern of the Haitian President ahead of the 28 November election for his successor was to ensure the winner would not force him into exile. 'Wary of change'According to the Associated Press, the memo says that Mr Preval's "overriding goal is to orchestrate the 2011 presidential transition in such a way as to ensure that whoever is elected will allow him to go home unimpeded."Based on our conversations, this is indeed a matter that looms large for Preval," the diplomatic note said.Six Haitian presidents have fled or been driven into exile since 1986.In the case of Mr Preval's immediate predecessor, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, that happened twice.The memo, dated seven months before January's earthquake, paints the president as isolated, independent, "wary of change and suspicious of outsiders."It calls his political decision-making "erratic," says he neglected his health after a bout with prostate cancer and had returned to drinking. Cuban controlBut it also characterised Mr Preval as "Haiti's indispensible man" and sole influential politician."Managing Preval will remain challenging during the remainder of his term yet doing so is key to our success and that of Haiti," the memo said.In 2006, the then US Ambassador to Caracas, William Brownfield, wrote four years ago that Cuban spies had "direct access" to President Hugo Chavez. Another cable sent in 2010 said Cuban agents controlled spying operations against the US embassy in Caracas.The secret diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks were published by the Spanish newspaper, El Pais.The left-wing governments of Cuba and Venezuela are close allies and outspoken opponents of the US.Similar allegations of Cuban intelligence influence in Venezuela have been made by Venezuelan opposition groups, but US officials have not publicly expressed such concerns. IndoctrinationThe leaked cable from Ambassador Brownfield says the ties between Cuban and Venezuelan intelligence are so close that the two countries agencies "appear to be competing with each other for the Venezuelan government's attention".The ambassador wrote that Cuban spies were so close to President Chavez that they provided him with intelligence unvetted by Venezuelan officers."Cuban agents train Venezuelans on both Cuba and Venezuela, providing both political indoctrination and operational instruction".The level of Cuban involvement in other agencies of the Venezuelan government was harder to confirm, he wrote.The embassy "had received no credible reports of extensive Cuban involvement in the Venezuelan military", but there were reports that Cubans were training Mr Chavez's bodyguard.The ambassador added that it was impossible to tell how many Cubans were working in Venezuela.Cuba's biggest and most public involvement in Venezuela is in the provision of tens of thousands of doctors and nurses who provide basic health services in poor areas.In return, Venezuela provides Cuba with subsidized oil. The presidents of Cuba and Venezuela, who have close relationsPhoto Credit: (AP)http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...59776160732280
<span style="font-weight: bold"> Wikileaks ' cablegate ' on Haiti and Cuba ( BBC )...</span>
Haitian President Rene Preval is characterised as "isolated" but "indispensible" in a 2009 US diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks.The whistleblowing website quoted another memo which said Cuban intelligence agents have deep involvement in Venezuela.These are some of the references to Caribbean nations in the batches of 'revelations' so far.The June 2009 memo about Mr Preval sent under the name of then US Ambassador to Haiti Janet Sanderson was released by Wikileaks along with an earlier cable about the president.It said the primary concern of the Haitian President ahead of the 28 November election for his successor was to ensure the winner would not force him into exile. 'Wary of change'According to the Associated Press, the memo says that Mr Preval's "overriding goal is to orchestrate the 2011 presidential transition in such a way as to ensure that whoever is elected will allow him to go home unimpeded."Based on our conversations, this is indeed a matter that looms large for Preval," the diplomatic note said.Six Haitian presidents have fled or been driven into exile since 1986.In the case of Mr Preval's immediate predecessor, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, that happened twice.The memo, dated seven months before January's earthquake, paints the president as isolated, independent, "wary of change and suspicious of outsiders."It calls his political decision-making "erratic," says he neglected his health after a bout with prostate cancer and had returned to drinking. Cuban controlBut it also characterised Mr Preval as "Haiti's indispensible man" and sole influential politician."Managing Preval will remain challenging during the remainder of his term yet doing so is key to our success and that of Haiti," the memo said.In 2006, the then US Ambassador to Caracas, William Brownfield, wrote four years ago that Cuban spies had "direct access" to President Hugo Chavez. Another cable sent in 2010 said Cuban agents controlled spying operations against the US embassy in Caracas.The secret diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks were published by the Spanish newspaper, El Pais.The left-wing governments of Cuba and Venezuela are close allies and outspoken opponents of the US.Similar allegations of Cuban intelligence influence in Venezuela have been made by Venezuelan opposition groups, but US officials have not publicly expressed such concerns. IndoctrinationThe leaked cable from Ambassador Brownfield says the ties between Cuban and Venezuelan intelligence are so close that the two countries agencies "appear to be competing with each other for the Venezuelan government's attention".The ambassador wrote that Cuban spies were so close to President Chavez that they provided him with intelligence unvetted by Venezuelan officers."Cuban agents train Venezuelans on both Cuba and Venezuela, providing both political indoctrination and operational instruction".The level of Cuban involvement in other agencies of the Venezuelan government was harder to confirm, he wrote.The embassy "had received no credible reports of extensive Cuban involvement in the Venezuelan military", but there were reports that Cubans were training Mr Chavez's bodyguard.The ambassador added that it was impossible to tell how many Cubans were working in Venezuela.Cuba's biggest and most public involvement in Venezuela is in the provision of tens of thousands of doctors and nurses who provide basic health services in poor areas.In return, Venezuela provides Cuba with subsidized oil. The presidents of Cuba and Venezuela, who have close relationsPhoto Credit: (AP)http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...59776160732280