Venezuela Hires Washington Public Relations Firm

The Venezuelan embassy in Washington DC has signed a six-month contract with FitzGibbon Media, a DC-based progressive communications firm, just months after President Nicolás Maduro launched a renewed anti-U.S. campaign. The contract, worth $150,000, is for “public relations strategy and media relations services,” and runs through November. The new deal was signed in June, three months after Maduro threatened to hand Barack Obama a petition with 10 million signatures denouncing U.S. aggression, during the Summit of the Americas, a regional conference with heads of state and government from 35 nations in the hemisphere. “A patriotic, anti-imperialist conscience has awakened, which is necessary to build up Venezuela,” said Maduro in March, shortly after Obama issued an executive order declaring Venezuela a threat to the national security of the United States. More…