Leaked documents: Venezuelan intelligence spying on local Jewish community

The Venezuelan secret service and counterintelligence organizations are keeping tabs on the Jewish community, leaked documents have revealed. Venezuelan agents follow, photograph and keep track of the movements of various leaders and rabbis of the local Jewish community, as well as collecting information on them, their activates and their meetings.

The intelligence agencies in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, are working on the assumption that the country’s Jews are the bridgehead for attempts by the United States and its allies, including Israel, to destabilize the country.

The Argentine news site Analisis24 recently published dozens of documents leaked from intelligence archives in Caracas. Experts in Buenos Aires examined the documents and rated them as highly credible.

The deterioration of the economic situation, rise in crime and lack of personal security following the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on March 5 have led many to fear an outbreak of violent anti-Semitic acts directed by the government to use Jews as scapegoats.

Among the leaked documents from SEBIN, the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service of Venezuela, some of which are marked “secret,” are recommendations to establish − in addition to the official spying activity − “a network of informers and collaborators” from among “the patriotic loyal citizens,” who will provide ongoing information on memes of the Jewish community and their activities. Such agents will receive, if they excel at their jobs, the title of “honorary officers” of the secret service.

Another document, from the counterintelligence branch bearing the title “Events of Rosh Hashanah 2010 of the Jewish Community,” contains the recommendation: “According to the instructions of the branch head and by presenting the matter as part of our need to provide security for synagogues with these addresses ... The participants should be documented and filmed for the purposes of the branch.”

The document later states that a certain Abraham B., with his identity number noted, should be followed in particular as “he is known to be in contact with foreign organizations who have given him [the mission] of passing on political information and identification of our security people.”

The documents also make clear that the security services intercept communications between members of the Jewish community and their contacts abroad, particularly in Israel.

Another document details the activities of the Mossad in South America. It notes the Israeli intelligence service is particularly interested in what is going on at Margarita Island, where there is a center for cooperation between Venezuela and Iran, including weapons development, missiles and the training of Islamic fighters.