RED PLANS FOILED IN VENEZUELA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73-00475R000101320003-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 6, 2014
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: July 26, 1965
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT TILL LATIM AMPJAIUNM 14MMV
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/01/06: CIA-RDP73-00475R000101320003-8
'JUL 2 6 .1965
Prime, Castro Target
Red Plans Foiled in Venezue
?
..CARACAS, July 25 Vene-
zuela, the richest country in
? Latin, America, has; leng been
the prime target of pro-Castro
communists but today' their ac;
tivities, are proving ineffective
('iii' the face of this nation's
? ? 'steady progress.
The Armed Forces of ? Nation-
:ial ? Lioeration ? (FALN)i, the
.'strong active 'underground
com-
munist organization here, hay-
ing -tailed to provoke thrOgh
terrorism the 'overthrow:?bf
Romulo' Betancourt, ? who 'fin-
ished his term' in 'March, 1964
changed tactics. Since Presi-
' ? .dent Raul Leoni took office
, th,erei has heetk,speradic terror-
ism but the organization is now
? .CCAlce(ltrating its, efforts on
;* guerrilla warfare.
' Small guerrilla', bands 'roam
.the mountains of this country,
' 'which is. the size of Texas and
' ;?
.Oklahoma com'hinecl.. Reported-
ly they are operating in 8 of
the 20 states, being particular-
ly active in the mountains 'to
the, west and to the east ? of
Caracas. They occupy small vil-
lages for several hours, seize
or. purchase ? Supplies, ambush
army' patrols and' carry out
sabotage. 'Army detachments
pursue them and at times kill
? or,capture a few' but ? 'yet no
.all out tompaign of elimina-
tion ? has been undertaken.
This guerrilla warfare cannot
. be. considered an actual threat
to the government at present.
; The, bands 'receive aid as well
i? as public support from Fidel
Castro and other communists.
i But:the communists of Venezu-
L els do not have a leader like
if Castro, as Cuba had, tel rally
The': people to their support.
Four-fifths of'-' the 81/2 million,
? VpoPulation is 'Concentrated in
? rthe:?highlands -of the west and
north .and along the Caribbean
:.coast, 60 per cent of them in
*.tir'nan districts, arid it is evi-
', dent the overwhelming 'major-
ity has no interest in a coin-
inOnist revolution. Even the
t stories of guerrilla exploits
reach the public mostly through
word of mouth since the news-
. papers of this country, ?' by
!'.'agreement' of their publishersO ,
rarely print reports of guerrilla
4. aetivities. ? ?
; ? . Severe] hundred communists,
including FAIN *activists and
some members of the Chamber
.D
of 'Deputies were rounded up by
l former President Betancourt In
? the last months of 1963 before
,.; elections. They are still in ' pris-
? ? ? ? &I ?? ? I
_Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved
By R. HART PHILLIPS .
?
(Newsday, 'Specials) .
dure. Recently the authorities
here arrested three individuals
whom they. said were FALN
leaders and were, preparing for
a .top .meeting to reassess com-
munist activities .in this coun-
try.
President Leoni has an-
nounced some politicaland coni-
mon prisoners will be freed the
end of this month. Secretary?of
the Presidency Manuel Mantilla
said none of' the. approximately
70 will be prominent commu-
nists.. .
'The Communist'Party and. the.
pro-Castro Indepeiftlent Revolu:
tionary Movement ;,.(MIR?).:;.ate
virtually outlawed in Venezuela
since they are not permitterto
function or nominate candi-
dates. The Leoni 'administra-
tion 'has taken the attitude that
if the''communists wish to
pledge pu'olicly an end to all
violence, then consideration will
he given to rehabilitation of the'
parties. This. has reportedly in-
creased the preSent split be-
tween the Moscow and Peking
groups.
At present President Leoni
has a coalition. of his own Dem'7
ocratic Action (AD) Party, ? the
Republican _ Democratic Union
(PRD) and the Democratic
National . Front (FND) which
gives him a two-thirds major-
ity in Congress. Labor and the
peasants, the backbone, of his
AD 'party, back the President
and labor Is vigoreusly anti-
communist. '
The armed forces, always the
dominant ,factor in Venezuela
with its long history of dictator-
ships and rapid changes'of gov-
ernment, continue to support
the Leoni, administration as
they did the Betancourt, regime.
? In analyzing the economic
situation . of Venezuela ?it can
be pointed out that the budget
has been in balance for the
past 3 -years. This . country is
the world's largest petroleum
exporter and the $1.3 'billion
which the government receives
from the American. and British
oil companies' here i 70 per
cent of its budget. There has
been no. adverse balance of
payments. or trade since 1962.
Reserves are 'now up to.
$880,-
? ?
000,000. , ?
The LeOni,:government has
increased soCial-economic ex-
penditures but with a high. 3.5
per cent birth rate* the heed
is tremendous. The Per capita
Income is 'About $600, the.hfgh
est in Latin America, but it is
for Release @ 50-Yr 201
a
one-third of the people live withl
totally i n a dequate housing,'
health and basic facilities. And
despite the increase in' indus-
try unemployment is high par-
ticularly in cities. :
? Venezuela already has the
best highway system of Latin
America and. more farm ? to
market roads are, being, built.
Programs of rural electrifica-
tion, housing, water supply and
irrigation are under 'way. The.
agrarian reform started by the.
Betancourt regime is procee&
Ii.l?gresrleoiwgnly?investments continue
'to' come into this country. U.S.'
citizens already have some $3
billion mostly in petroleum. The
recent statement by President
Leoni as to government policy
toward foreign investments in
petrochemical ? plan ts has
cleared the way for a number
of 'investments by ? U.S. com-
panies. .But as yet the Presi-
dent has not clarified the gov-
ernment petroleum policy. The
no-concession policy of the Bet-
ancourt government remains in
effect although. it has been In-
dicated operating contracts
yvill be made. So far no con-
tracts have been arranged for
development of new oil fields
and exploration work halted by
the big oil companies several
years ago ? has ,not been re-
sumed.
Critics.of the Leoni adminis-
tration say that it moves very
slowly; aid there 'is a sense of
drift in government affairs.
At the same time this coun-
try has a huge ? and somewhat
unwieldy bureaucracy and com-
plaint is voiced that govern-
ment funds are not 'being util-
ized as efficiently as they should
be for social and economic de-
velopment.
At present Venezuela does
not require' extensive assistance
from the' Alliance for Progress.
The U.S.' AID has only a tech-
nical assistance program here
eosting 'some $11/2 million year-
ly. Some long term loans have
seen :made .by various 'interna-
tional agencies, such as an
$80 million loan by the World
Bank for the Curie Dam- in the
eastern part . of the "country
where the government expects
to develop. electric power.
In view, of this bright polit-
ical and economic picture ,it is
evident that ? the plans of the ,
communistS' ? to 'convert ? ? this
country into a communist sat-i.
011ie :like are at. presents
4/01/06: CIA-RDP73-00475R000101320003-8
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