The violence erupted when pro- and anti-Chavez demonstrators clashed in downtown Caracas - 19 Venezuelans died and hundreds more were wounded, among them one Spaniard who was killed and three injured, he said. The riots spurred a coup that ousted Chavez for three days, before military loyalists returned the former paratrooper commander to power. The suit was filed in Madrid, Romero said, because of the Spanish nationals killed in the riots. As well, he said, Venezuelan officials have been slow to form a commission to investigate the April 11 slayings and he accused Venezuelan courts of being biased toward the government.
Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel, who is accused in the lawsuit along with Chavez, Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez and other top government officials, downplayed the case. "The ones who should be brought to trial internationally are others, specifically the terrorists and saboteurs in the oil industry," Rangel said. He referred to dissident oil executives at Venezuela's state-run oil company who have joined a 58-day-old strike against Chavez. Chavez has been accused of corruption in nearly a dozen cases before Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal and attorney general's office.[End]
As the strike nears the two month mark, backing for the protest in non-oil sectors has begun to fray as private businesses, restaurants and stores reopen to fend off bankruptcy. Opposition leaders, who brand former paratrooper Chavez's rule as dictatorial and corrupt, offered on Tuesday to ease their strike by exempting food production and education. But they say the protest will continue until Chavez accepts immediate elections. Chavez is due to step down at the start of 2007. ***