CARACAS, August 16 (Itar-Tass) – Venezuela’s National Assembly, the parliament, is setting up a commission to investigate the financing of the country’s political opposition from abroad.
MP’s representing the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, which a majority in the unicameral national parliament, voted Monday for forming the agency.
The decision to set up the commission was taken shortly after President Hugo Chavez said the opposition preparing international intervention.
He cited the information suggesting that the oppositionist Democratic Unity Roundtable, which brings together a range of opposition parties, had sent a letter to the U.S. Congress requesting “assistance for effectuating a transition period in Venezuela.”
Chavez described the opposition’s appeal as a glaring instance of servility and audacity, warning that the situation should be treated with much caution.
He demanded legal investigation since such actions “are but overt violations of the Constitution.”
Chavez said the opposition is bracing itself for challenging the results of the presidential election scheduled for next year, “setting the country on fire and provoking an international intervention.”
He qualified the opposition as a “bundle of serpents” and said that standing behind their backs are “the Yankee empire, the Pentagon, the White House, and the ultra-rightwing quarters in the U.S. and Europe.”
Chavez recalled that these supporting quarters supported the attempt of a state coup in Venezuela in 2002.