Timothy Hallett Tracy is "neither a photographer nor a film maker," says Venezuelan justice minister

"His intent was to create chaos in the streets"


*Updated June 5 - Tracy deported after all charges are dropped*
Guadalajara -
In an television interview broadcast yesterday in Caracas which cannot portend well for U.S. national Timothy Hallett Tracy, Venezuela's justice minister claimed the accused American is neither a photographer nor a documentary film maker.

Those claims are "just a facade," minister Miguel Rodríguez Torres told Televen on Sunday, referring to recent statements by Tracy's family and supporters in the United States. "We've seized hundreds of videotapes and email which show otherwise," said Rodríguez, "and they will be presented in court."

Tracy, 35, was arrested Apr. 25 and stands accused of inciting right wing student groups opposed to the new president, Nicolás Maduro, who was elected last month. Post-election violence in the country killed at least nine and wounded many others.

Tracy was arraigned in a Caracas court on Apr. 27. The charges include conspiracy, aiding and abetting in furtherance of a criminal enterprise, the possession and use of false documents and criminal association. No trial date has been set.

Rodríguez told Televen that Tracy had been under government surveillance since October, before an earlier presidential election won by Hugo Chávez, who died Mar. 5. Venezuelan security services "concluded he was involved in an espionage operation," according to Rodríguez.

"Everything Tracy did was pursuant to what we in the intelligence business call establishing a front, a facade," said the justice minister, who told Televen that the American's email communications "linked him to the right and revealed plans for fomenting civil disorder and violence."

"The purpose was to create chaos in the streets," added Rodríguez.

"When someone wants to engage in intelligence work in another country, it's very common to present oneself as a film maker, photographer, documentary producer or a journalist. That's particularly true with the major powers which carry out this type of espionage," said Rodríguez, who stopped short of alleging that the U.S. was behind or had knowledge of Tracy's activities. The Venezuelan government has several times stated that Tracy was funded by "non-governmental organizations of foreign origin," without offering details.

To further cover his real intentions, Rodríguez charged that Tracy frequently associated with chavistas, left wingers who are uncompromising devotees of Nicolás Maduro's socialist government.

Late last week Maduro's opponent in the April 14 election, center right candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski, announced plans to file a legal challenge to the results before Venezuela's supreme court. The margin was narrow, with Maduro winning by well under two percent of the ballots cast. In October late president Hugo Chávez beat Capriles by almost 10%. An intense word of words between Maduro, Capriles and their respective camps continues unabated, with both sides trading accusations of fraud.

June 5 - Venezuela deports Timothy Hallet Tracy after dropping espionage and sedition charges

© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.