A group of Venezuelan journalists who have been critical of Hugo Chávez's government have been accused of receiving money from the CIA in order to destabilise the state. The accused journalists deny the claim. Two have explained that they took part in cultural exchange programmes at the invitation of the US government. Another, Roger Santodomingo, maintained that he was a US correspondent and producer for the BBC from 2003-2005.
He has also been accused to attempting to instigate Chávez's assassination following his website's publication of an opinion poll in which the option of assassinating Chávez was offered as a possible response to the question: "What is the way out of this crisis?" The option received 30% of the votes. (Via IFEX)
