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probably defunct anyway - no web activity postdating November 08 that I can see
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In 2004 VIO was reported to employ nine people;<ref name="collier">{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/21/MNGTS8C4C21.DTL|title=Venezuelan politics suit Bay Area activists' talents|last=Collier|first=Robert|date=21 August 2004|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|accessdate=2009-02-09}}</ref> its budget for the first six months of 2004 was $500,000,<ref name=FARA04/> rising to over $800,000 for the first half of 2008.<ref>[http://www.fara.gov/docs/5609-Supplemental-Statement-20080923-7.pdf Venezuela Information Office - FARA fillings 31.08.08]</ref> A sister organisation to VIO, the [[Latin American Information Office]], is co-funded by a [[Bolivia]]n foundation and the Venezuelan government.<ref>[http://www.lataminfo.org/aboutus.php LAIO About Us], accessed 8 March 2009</ref>
In 2004 VIO was reported to employ nine people;<ref name="collier">{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/21/MNGTS8C4C21.DTL|title=Venezuelan politics suit Bay Area activists' talents|last=Collier|first=Robert|date=21 August 2004|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]|accessdate=2009-02-09}}</ref> its budget for the first six months of 2004 was $500,000,<ref name=FARA04/> rising to over $800,000 for the first half of 2008.<ref>[http://www.fara.gov/docs/5609-Supplemental-Statement-20080923-7.pdf Venezuela Information Office - FARA fillings 31.08.08]</ref> A sister organisation to VIO, the [[Latin American Information Office]], is co-funded by a [[Bolivia]]n foundation and the Venezuelan government.<ref>[http://www.lataminfo.org/aboutus.php LAIO About Us], accessed 8 March 2009</ref>

As of February 2010, the organisation has issued no press releases since November 2008.<ref>Venezuela Information Office, [http://www.rethinkvenezuela.com/press/press.html Press Room], accessed 16 Feb 2010</ref>


==Work==
==Work==

Revision as of 19:13, 16 February 2010

The Venezuela Information Office is located in The Toronto (pictured), a commercial building in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

The Venezuela Information Office (VIO) is a Washington, DC-based lobbying agency whose goal is to improve the perception of Venezuela in the United States;[1] its stated mission is "to prevent US intervention in Venezuela".[2] Founded in 2004 by the government of Venezuela,[3] VIO is funded by the Venezuelan government[4] and therefore registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.[5]

In 2004 VIO was reported to employ nine people;[6] its budget for the first six months of 2004 was $500,000,[5] rising to over $800,000 for the first half of 2008.[7] A sister organisation to VIO, the Latin American Information Office, is co-funded by a Bolivian foundation and the Venezuelan government.[8]

As of February 2010, the organisation has issued no press releases since November 2008.[9]

Work

A key part of VIO's function is responding to negative coverage of Venezuela in the US media. In addition to maintaining a public website[10] and a blog,[11] VIO promotes its views in the media in a number of ways, including issuing press releases, contributing articles (such as responses to the 2008 Human Rights Watch report[12] on Venezuela[13][14]), and being available for interviews. It has contacted "most of the journalists writing about Venezuela for major newspapers and wire services, editorial boards, and members of Congress and their staff".[15] It also writes publishable "letters to the editor" responses, and encourages others to write in. It has also placed a series of advertisements in major magazines and newspapers promoting Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution; one ad used the slogan "In the past, Venezuela's oil wealth benefited a few. Today, it benefits a few million."[3]

It has established some links with leftist groups in the US, notably Global Exchange;[16] the first director of the VIO (after it was re-founded in February 2004; a previous VIO had been founded in July 2003) was a former director of Global Exchange.[17] The Center for Public Integrity reported in September 2004 that a VIO "rapid response team", including "a writer at the pro-Chavez Web site, Venezuelanalysis.com", addressed media that criticized Chavez and "[a]t protests, conferences, and college campuses, VIO employees handed out literature and played The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, a documentary of Venezuela's 2002 aborted military coup".[17]

According to public records the VIO spent $379,000 on lobbying the US Congress in the years 2004 to 2007.[18] In 2004 it also contracted public relations company Lumina Strategies to improve the image of Hugo Chávez and of the Venezuelan government in the United States, supporting and coordinating the media relations work of the VIO.[6][19]

Personnel

Olivia Goumbri was VIO's Executive Director as of 2009.[20] Past employees of VIO include Deborah James, former director of Global Exchange,[6] now with Center for Economic and Policy Research,[21] and Robert Naiman of Just Foreign Policy.[22] James signed a letter to the editor of the Center for Public Integrity, with representatives from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, saying that their statements about the VIO were "highly misleading".[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ Forero, Juan (30 September 2004). "Venezuela's government seeks to show that its oil riches are well spent". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  2. ^ "FARA US Department of Justice" (PDF). US Department of Justice. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  3. ^ a b Melia, Michael (30 January 2006). "Venezuelan oil marks Chavez's latest bid to win over U.S." Boston Globe. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
  4. ^ VIO About Us
  5. ^ a b Foreign Agents Registration Act - Venezuela Information Office - FARA fillings 29.08.04
  6. ^ a b c Collier, Robert (21 August 2004). "Venezuelan politics suit Bay Area activists' talents". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-02-09. Cite error: The named reference "collier" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ Venezuela Information Office - FARA fillings 31.08.08
  8. ^ LAIO About Us, accessed 8 March 2009
  9. ^ Venezuela Information Office, Press Room, accessed 16 Feb 2010
  10. ^ VIO official website - rethinkvenezuela.com
  11. ^ VIO News
  12. ^ Holland, Alisha (22 September 2008). "A Decade Under Chávez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities for Advancing Human Rights in Venezuela". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2009-03-13. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Venezuela Information Office, Monthly Review, 22 September 2008, The Truth Suffers in Human Rights Watch Report on Venezuela
  14. ^ Carroll, Rori (9 September 2008). "Human Rights Watch condemns Chávez's decade in power". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-03-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ Venezuela Head Polishes Image With Oil Dollars. Center for Public Integrity, September 22, 2004. Retrieved January 24, 2010, and response.
  16. ^ Miller, John J (27 December 2004). "Friends of Hugo: Venezuela's Castroite boss has all the usual U.S. supporters". National Review. findarticles.com. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  17. ^ a b Bogardus, Kevin (4 October 2008). "Venezuela Head Polishes Image With Oil Dollars". Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  18. ^ opensecrets.org, Venezuela Information Office entry
  19. ^ "Lumina Strategies' filing to US DoJ Foreign Agent Registration Unit" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  20. ^ Goumbri, Olivia (24 January 2009). "Letter to Editor: Improving conditions". Washington Times. Retrieved 2009-02-20. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  21. ^ "Deborah James, Director of International Programs". Center for Economic and Policy Research. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  22. ^ Naiman, Robert (26 July 2004). "Chavez Gets Strong Support From Brazil" (PDF). Venezuela Information Office. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  23. ^ Bogardus, Kevin (September 22, 2004). "Venezuela Head Polishes Image With Oil Dollars". Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved January 24, 2010. Letter to the editor in response.
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