Journalist group urges Attorney General to investigate US funding of opposition NGOs

[Judi Lynn]

Source: El Universal - Opposition Newspaper

Journalist group urges Attorney General to investigate US funding of opposition NGOs
CARACAS, Tuesday July 13, 2010

The pro-government group Movimiento por el Periodismo Necesario (Movement for Necessary Journalism) thinks that the US State Department would be funding a campaign to destabilize Venezuela in an election year

Members of the Movement for Necessary Journalism urged on Tuesday the Attorney General Office to initiate an investigation into the alleged US funding of Venezuelan journalists and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Arín Rodríguez, a member of the group, said that he filed a request at the Attorney General Office to commence an investigation into a complaint related to the alleged foreign funding of some Venezuelan NGOs, journalists working in private media, political parties, and opposition sectors. The funding would be used for "a campaign of destabilization" in an election year, the state-run news Agencia Venezolana de Noticias (AVN) said.

Rodríguez added that the documents "prove" that the US Department of State has granted USD 4 million to the Press and Society Institute (Ipys), in Venezuela, as well as NGO Espacio Público (Public Space).

Read more: http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/07/13/en_pol_art_journalist-group-urg_13A4177253.shtml