Caracas Police Outgunned by Criminals - Chavez siezed weapons

AP/ yahoo.comnews ^ | October 30, 2003 | CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER

[Cincinatus' Wife]

CARACAS, Venezuela - Armor-piercing bullets kill an officer trying to foil a carjacking. A grenade tossed at police allow thieves to escape a bank heist. Gang members hold sway in hillside slums.

Almost three weeks after the federal government restored control of the Caracas police force to the city mayor, police claim they are outgunned by criminals and practically defenseless because all their weapons haven't been returned. Officers are dying as a result, they say.

President Hugo Chavez ordered the armed forces to take custody of police stations last November, accusing the police of playing a key role in a short-lived 2002 coup and repressing pro-government marches.

On Oct. 10, soldiers left police stations as Chavez's administration relinquished control of the 9,000-strong city police force under orders from the Supreme Court after the 10-month takeover.

Despite the military's withdrawal from city precincts, Venezuela's defense ministry hasn't returned more than 2,000 MP-5 submachine guns and dozens of 12-gauge shotguns that were confiscated during the takeover.

Lacking powerful firearms to fight criminals in violent Caracas, an increasing number of police officers are dying, said Metropolitan Police Chief Lazaro Forero.

He said 24 police have been killed and 90 wounded in clashes with criminals since the takeover began. Last week, an officer wearing a flak jacket died in action after being shot with ten armor-piercing bullets.

"We can't fight crime like this. It's a battle we can't win because we are competing with criminals that have weapons for wars," Forero told the Associated Press.

City police are currently permitted to use .38-caliber revolvers.

Meanwhile, weekend death tolls in this increasingly chaotic capital are rising. Pedestrians are robbed at gunpoint in plain daylight and bus drivers regularly block main avenues to protest daily holdups.

Raimundo Arraiz told the local Ultimas Noticias newspaper that an average of 20 bus drivers on a route through western Caracas's poor districts are held up everyday.

According to statistics released by Venezuela's federal police, there were 1,435 homicides in Caracas last year compared to 1,609 murders during the first seven months of 2003. Forero says the total has crept to 1,800.

Crimes of all types are increasing.

Luis Uguarte, a 43-year-old taxi driver, three robberies at gunpoint in less than six months prompted him to stop driving at night despite the lack of traffic jams and higher rates.

"One of my buddies was held up by two older women, one of them holding a baby and the other a revolver," said Uguarte. "It's tough trusting anyone these days."

According to Forero, police have recently confronted assailants equipped with mortars, grenade launchers, automatic rifles, tear gas, bulletproof vests and "bullets that can penetrate car engines."

The government, which blames the rise in crime on the Metropolitan police's alleged inefficiency, plans to dispatch some 500 National Guard troops to patrol Caracas streets on Oct. 29. to contribute to the fight against crime.

Venezuela's defense ministry insists the weapons that were seized by soldiers are classified as "weapons of war," which are not permitted for use by state or municipal police forces and cannot be returned.

Opposition lawmakers argue that military commanders, by failing to overturn the firearms to police, are breaking the law and could be held in contempt of court.

The law defines "weapons of war" as any weapon that can be used by the military, "including a bayonet" or revolver, opposition lawmaker Wilfredo Febres told a press conference on Tuesday.

"This (law) authorizes police to use such weapons," he said.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Hugo Chavez - Venezuela

[xm177e2]

Venezuela's defense ministry insists the weapons that were seized by soldiers are classified as "weapons of war," which are not permitted for use by state or municipal police forces and cannot be returned.... The law defines "weapons of war" as any weapon that can be used by the military, "including a bayonet" or revolver, opposition lawmaker Wilfredo Febres told a press conference on Tuesday.

"armas de guerra" y "assault rifles"... que es la diferencia? Son palabras traviesas, de personas malas.

[xm177e2]

And for those of you who don't know Spanish, I'll spare you a trip to Google. This is how Google translates my post:

"arms military" and "assault rifles"... that it is the difference? They are words crossbeams, of bad people.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Everything is going according to plan.

Chavez foes slam land grants - 'Agrarian Reform' and "Land Redistribution' in Venezuela***Under the law, the land distributed to the peasants is still owned by the state, and the government must encourage the formation of peasant cooperatives and collective farms, where the state is to provide housing, health care and education. The law also gives the government power to dictate how private land can be used, based on soil conditions and the country's food-security needs.

Critics argue that the law violates the right to private property and is a throwback to state-planned communist economies. "The model of the collective farm doesn't respond to our reality," said Roque Carmona, founder of Campesino Alliance, a nonprofit organization that helps small-scale farmers. "It looks good on paper, nothing more."

Government officials maintain that the ban on giving up ownership of state property is an attempt to avoid the failures of past land reforms in Venezuela and elsewhere, in which small farmers who lacked credit or government support eventually had to sell their plots to large landowners.

They also argue that forming peasant cooperatives is the only way campesinos can compete with large agribusinesses.

Mr. Chavez has defended the law in terms of social justice and by appealing to the need for "food security," mandated by the constitution passed in 1999 during his first year as president.***

[archy]

And won't the cops here in the U.S. be surprised when the same thing happens to them, just like in Kosovo when NATO *allowed* them to carry handguns only, then they started taking casualties from *bandit* KLA muslum terrorists with AKs and RPGs. Same thing when we took over in Haiti....

Army soldiers patrol the entrance of a Metropolitan police station in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2003, despite a Supreme Court order for the army to evacuate all the metropolitan police stations that they took over 11 months ago. After the government restored control of the Caracas police force to the city mayor, police claim they are outgunned by thugs and practically defenseless because all their weapons haven't been returned.(AP Photo/Leslie Mazoch) AP - Oct 28 11:36 PM



An army soldier, right, patrols the entrance of a Metropolitan police station as city police officers come and go in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2003, despite a Supreme Court order for the army to evacuate all the metropolitan police stations that they took over 11 months ago. After the government restored control of the Caracas police force to the city mayor, police claim they are outgunned by thugs and practically defenseless because all their weapons haven't been returned. (AP Photo/Leslie Mazoch)



An army soldier patrols the entrance of a Metropolitan police station as a police vehicle leaves the station in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2003, despite a Supreme Court order for the army to evacuate all the metropolitan police stations that they took over 11 months ago. After the government restored control of the Caracas police force to the city mayor, police claim they are outgunned by thugs and practically defenseless because all their weapons haven't been returned.(AP Photo/Leslie Mazoch)
AP - Oct 28 11:36 PM

[marron]

"We can't fight crime like this. It's a battle we can't win because we are competing with criminals that have weapons for wars,"

If the criminals are armed with military weapons, would you give odds that they are Bolivarians? Making a little side money?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The more the merrier for Chavez....Chavista thugs, FARC rebels, Carlos the Jackel, IRA, Cuban "advisors," Islamic terrorists, you name it. If it creates chaos, he'll promote and finance it.

[Travis McGee]

While we focus on the ME, SA is going red.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Tyrrany is like a balloon. You squeeze it in one place, it puffs out in another.

[Travis McGee]

I think that it's even worse than tyranny. The Shah and Pinochet were tyrants, but a red takeover of SA would be a disaster.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Chavez is slowly replacing the police with his forces

The government, which blames the rise in crime on the Metropolitan police's alleged inefficiency, plans to dispatch some 500 National Guard troops to patrol Caracas streets on Oct. 29. to contribute to the fight against crime.

National Guard soldier Fran Quintero pets a child's head during a routine street patrol in one of Caracas most dangerous neighborhoods, Catia, in Venezuela's capital city, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced last night the creation of a national guard urban patrol, and dispatched 500 soldiers in Caracas to contribute to the fight against crime. According to statistics released by Venezuela's federal police, there were 1,435 homicides in Caracas last year compared to 1,609 murders during the first seven months of 2003. (AP Photo/Leslie Mazoch)