Monday, January 1, 2007
By Jerry Brewer
Although democracies have their fair share of government
whistle blowers exposing perceived and actual abuses of government, autocratic, dictatorial and other forms of manipulative
control governments face a serious threat.
New generations throughout the world are crying out
for peace, freedom, technology, food and other Western comforts. One of the hallmarks
of these shouts is freedom of speech. This certainly is a threat to leftist rulers
and governments that repress speech and hinder free thought.
Many of these autocratic officials will live or die
politically, or literally, depending upon the strength and security of their own regimes.
Much of their ideology is spun rhetoric, with their primary mission — to acquire power and stay there.
Such is the case with Venezuela’s recently
reelected President Hugo Chavez, who has now pledged a more radical socialism. His
defeated opponent, Manuel Rosales, accused Chavez of becoming “increasingly authoritarian.”
Cold War spy stories have intrigued readers for decades. With the announced end of the Cold War in 1991 many believed an era had finally disappeared,
to be replaced by technology that included signal intelligence (SIGINT), sophisticated satellites, advanced electronics, and
a more thorough and complicated system of scientific applications.
However the November 2006 death, in London, of former
Soviet KGB and FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko (43) served to remind us that “operational acts” are alive and
well. And that human intelligence (HUMINT) is still the lifeblood of the spy
business.
In a statement dictated a couple of days before his
death, Litvinenko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of arranging his death. Putin
directed the KGB in the 1990s. Litvinenko was recruited into the KGB just prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. He later became an outspoken Putin critic and strong opponent of Russia’s military
involvement in Chechnya. Litvinenko went into exile in Great Britain in 2000.
A rare anti-government rally took place last month
in Moscow, where some 2,000 demonstrators demanded that President Putin stop “Russia’s retreat from democracy.” Police action failed to stop the people’s protest.
As well, those who are part of the political and
business elite of Russia are known to increasingly include former spies who have “previously proven themselves to Putin.” The percentage of former Soviet-style spy apparatus personnel in Putin’s government
was estimated to be at a startling figure of 78 percent by a Moscow-based center for the “Study of Elites.”
Putin’s regime, much like that of Venezuelan
Hugo Chavez, has moved quickly to cut back on basic freedoms of speech and journalists, elimination of or degrading political
opposition, as well as placing restrictions on non-government groups. Both Putin
and Chavez are seeking to end presidential term limits.
Litvinenko was a Soviet-era KGB, and its successor
FSB, counterterrorism and organized crime specialist. In the 1990s he alleged
that the FSB had been active in killing public and business officials opposed by the government. Too, he had been investigating the October 2006 Moscow murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya,
who was critical of Russia’s “atrocities in the war in Chechnya.”
Putin has called this “nothing but nonsense,” and denied it. Further,
he called Litvinenko’s death a tragedy and offered his government’s help in investigating. Litvinenko’s death was via a rare poison known as Polonium-210, a highly radioactive isotope.
The erosion of human rights is a major concern of
Russian political specialists. Attacks on Putin’s critics include over
20 journalists killed since 2000. Putin has reasserted state control over assets
that were privatized after the decline of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Critics are calling for Putin to “retake the
democratic road,” and to stop the attacks on individual liberties and democracy.
Russia’s growth rate has averaged over six percent under Putin. High
prices for Russian oil and gas have of course contributed to this.
Venezuelan President Chavez has used his country’s
oil wealth to fund social programs, whereas opponents have accused him of deepening class divisions. With state control over the oil industry he is now suggesting he might nationalize utilities.
Bolivia’s President, Evo Morales, a strong
Chavez supporter, recently signed a law giving the Bolivian government control over operations by foreign energy companies.
Foreign intelligence services are surely monitoring
Chavez’s visits with leaders of Cuba, Syria, Lebanon, North Korea and Iran, as well as his massive military arms purchases
from Russia. And opposition intelligence services are certainly poised to counter
the efforts.
So, while the business of espionage is alive and
well perhaps more Litvinenko’s are needed to expose those who threaten world peace.
Jerry Brewer, the Vice President of Criminal Justice International Associates, a global risk mitigation firm headquartered
in Miami, Florida, is a guest columnist with MexiData.info. He can be reached via e-mail at Cjiaincusa@aol.com.
