Operation Pliers
Encyclopedia
Operation Pliers, also known as Operación Tenaza or Operation Pincers is the name of an alleged U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) plan to incite insurrection following the 2 December 2007 referendum on constitutional changes
in Venezuela
. The Venezuelan government published details of the alleged plans shortly before election day, and threatened to cut off oil supplies to the U.S. if there was violence after the referendum. The US rejected the document as a fake and called the allegations ridiculous.
The alleged plan was reported by the Venezuelan state news agency Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias
in late November 2007, shortly before voting day. The plan was said to be elaborated in a document alleged to be an internal memo from the US Embassy in Caracas uncovered by Venezuelan counter-intelligence. The document purports to be a communication from a CIA officer named Michael Middleton Steere, employed at the US embassy in Caracas
, to CIA Director General Michael Hayden in Washington, D.C.
. The document, dated November 20, details measures taken and planned to destabilize Venezuela during and after the referendum.
The U.S. responded by calling the allegations "ridiculous" and the document "a fake". Independent analysts doubted the authenticity of the document, declaring that the lack of an original document in English is "quite suspect," and noting that "the timing of its release is strange."
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA) plan to incite insurrection following the 2 December 2007 referendum on constitutional changes
Venezuelan constitutional referendum, 2007
A constitutional referendum was held in Venezuela on 2 December 2007 to amend 69 articles of the 1999 Constitution. Reform was needed, according to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, to implement his socialist agenda; detractors said he was using the reforms to become a dictator.The referendum was...
in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. The Venezuelan government published details of the alleged plans shortly before election day, and threatened to cut off oil supplies to the U.S. if there was violence after the referendum. The US rejected the document as a fake and called the allegations ridiculous.
The alleged plan was reported by the Venezuelan state news agency Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias
Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias
Agencia Venezolana de Noticias is the national news agency of Venezuela. It is part of the Ministry of Communication and Information , but run as an autonomous service...
in late November 2007, shortly before voting day. The plan was said to be elaborated in a document alleged to be an internal memo from the US Embassy in Caracas uncovered by Venezuelan counter-intelligence. The document purports to be a communication from a CIA officer named Michael Middleton Steere, employed at the US embassy in Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, to CIA Director General Michael Hayden in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. The document, dated November 20, details measures taken and planned to destabilize Venezuela during and after the referendum.
The U.S. responded by calling the allegations "ridiculous" and the document "a fake". Independent analysts doubted the authenticity of the document, declaring that the lack of an original document in English is "quite suspect," and noting that "the timing of its release is strange."