On Venezuela.(letters to the editor)(Letter to the Editor)

John J. Miller ("Friends of Hugo," Dec. 27) falsely alleges that "representatives from the Center for Economic and Policy Research" are "members" of a "media response team which contacts the press about its coverage of Venezuela." The Center for Economic and Policy Research has no representatives who serve as members of any media response team, regarding Venezuela or any other country or political issue. Since this allegation is completely false, and you have hereby been notified that it is false, we expect an immediate retraction.

Mark Weisbrot and Dean Baker

Center for Economic

and Policy Research

Washington, D.C.

John J. Miller calls me "a self-described journalist with a history of activism in Central America." For ten years I was a photojournalist based in Central America, covering events in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. I also regularly accompanied combatants on both sides--government and guerrilla forces--in these countries. I took pictures for such magazines as Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report, and occasionally for newspapers such as the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.

Mr. Miller also claims that most of the National Endowment for Democracy's documents regarding their assistance to Venezuelan opposition groups were posted on the NED website. This was not the case. The NED website was unfortunately left outdated, and some of the documents I obtained were important e-mails that were never posted there. Mr. Miller correctly notes that these documents were not officially "classified." But that is a moot point, as they were not openly available. The NED's Freedom of Information Act officer assured me that the only way I would obtain them was through the FOIA.