Oct 7/05 - Open letter to Ted Koppel, from ABC's Nightline: Follow up to another unsubstantiated Chávez dream-plot

Mr. Chavez, Where's the evidence?

October 7^th, 2005

Mr. Ted Koppel
Nightline
ABCNews
N.Y., N.Y.

Dear Mr. Koppel,

During your September 16^th Nightline interview with President Hugo Chávez, as a response to his startling - but oft repeated accusation - that the U.S. has a plan to invade our country, you requested the evidence. His response was “I can send it to you -- I can't send it all, but I can make sure I can send part of it to you. I can send it to you. … I can send you maps and everything and you can show it to the United States citizens. What I can't tell you his how we got it, to protect the sources, how we got it through military intelligence…But nobody can deny it, because (inaudible) the Balboa plan. We are coming up with the counter-Balboa plan”.

The purpose of this letter is straightforward. Can you confirm if you have received such information from President Chávez? If you have, when do you plan to “show it to the United States citizens” as he considerately requested? If you have not received the material offered, could you describe the efforts you, or your research staff, have made to obtain it.

I think it is not necessary to tell you how newsworthy such information would be not only to the American public, but also to millions of Venezuelans increasingly skeptical about both Mr. Chavez’s and his numerous, outlandish and unsubstantiated “victimization” stunts.

While I understand that it was important for the ABC Network to redress the ill will it justifiably earned by permitting a garish Pat Robertson the use of its affiliate ABC Family Channel to call for the assassination of Mr. Chávez, it would also be important to make sure that Mr. Chávez does not walk away having used your highly reputable program to once again propagandize and lie to the world at large.

I look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely yours,

Pedro M. Burelli

PS: I am posting this letter in my Blog PMBComments (www.pmbcomments.blogspot.com) and I will be more than happy to post your response when I receive it.