Attorney and author Eva Golinger Wednesday told the Committee on Media, National Assembly, that the United States government is interfering in Venezuela by providing funds and advice to political groups and non-governmental organizations in order to "infiltrate, undermine and destroy" the revolution and "finish" President Hugo Chávez.

Golinger appeared before the committee together with the host of official television channel VTV late show La Hojilla (the razor blade). Both of them were questioned on their continued claims about US funding of opposition groups in Venezuela.

Golinger claimed that the US administration, through the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) y the US Agency for Internacional Development -both funded by the US Congress- is operating in Venezuela under the Department of State and the US Embassy to Caracas.

According to Golinger, NED is funding around 15 groups in Venezuela, including Súmate, Primero Justicia, Liderazgo y Visión, Consorcio Justicia, Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (Ipys), Acción Campesina, among others.

She argued that, besides economic aid, NED is also providing these organizations with "strategies and important advice from Washington experts who guide and support them with a view to overthrow the revolution. They call this promoting democracy."

According to Golinger, US Agency for Internacional Development is currently funding over 300 programs and groups in Venezuela, based on the information provided by the organization itself on its website. The attorney said such work is conducted through an office called Initiative for Transition, opened in Caracas on June 2002.