Weekly Report - 28 October 2003

When a group of Venezuelan pro-government legislators produced a much-heralded video purportedly showing the CIA training members of the opposition in shady techniques, it was a disappointment. A six-minute edited clip showed three unidentified men proferring, in Spanish, advice on surveillance and making allusions to contacts with an embassy, also unidentified. The existence of this tape had been making the rounds in official statements for weeks, and was linked with President Hugo Chávez 's decision to call off his trip to attend the UN General Assembly.