Posted on 02/20/2003 3:03:28 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
All four victims frequented Plaza Altamira, the site of more than 120 days of protests against Chavez' government. The dead military men had also joined a call for popular resistance led by anti-Chavez Gen. Enrique Medina. A 14-year-old girl who apparently witnessed at least one of the killings was hospitalized after being shot, but is talking, police said.***
University Rector Giuseppe Gianetto told Union Radio that 18-year-old Ricardo Sanchez, an international studies major, was kidnapped by agents as he left an opposition youth protest in Caracas on Wednesday. Sanchez was blindfolded, beaten and burned with an object before agents released him early Thursday in a Caracas slum, Gianetto said. Sanchez was under the protective custody of university attorneys who were filing a complaint with the attorney general's office.
"This kind of vile and cowardly torture hasn't been seen in this country for a long time," said Gianetto. "Not even youths can use their constitutional rights to go out and protest peacefully."
"There wasn't any detention of any student," the Interior Ministry official said in a telephone interview.[End]
We are facing in South America the same threat that was present in Central America in the 1980s, only much, much worse.
We had better get on the stick and cleanup quick in the Middle East and cut off the money to these terrorsts, especially that from Iran.
Gaddhafi needs another warning, and quick. He isn't out of the woods with sanctions yet. Some special Forces could blow up production in his country and put him on notice.
This article also points out the under-the-radar plotting of China with our enemies. Wampanoah (sp) needs to be sent packing out of the Canal Zone.
Pray for our President. He has threats on every front.
We need to help the Venezualans. They will take care of the Arab/Muslims in their country, but we need to aid them IMMEDIATELY!!!
Armed Men Capture Venezuela Strike Leader*** CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Armed men, apparently from the Venezuela state security police, on Thursday captured a business chief who led a strike against President Hugo Chavez after a judge ordered him and a union boss arrested for rebellion, opposition leaders said.
Eight heavily armed men grabbed Carlos Fernandez at a restaurant in eastern Caracas early and fired shots in the air to keep back protesters before bundling him into a car, witnesses and opposition representatives said.
Foes of Chavez quickly condemned the order to detain Fernandez, the head of the Fedecamaras business chamber, as intimidation by the leftist leader they accuse of wielding power like a dictator.
"This is one more demonstration of intimidation," said opposition negotiator Rafael Alfonzo. "This is completely outside of the law," he said.
A judge told state television that Fernandez and union chief Carlos Ortega, who spearheaded the two-month opposition strike started in December to try and oust Chavez, were ordered detained for civilian rebellion, sabotage and other charges.
An official from the security police could not immediately confirm that officers from the agency were involved in the incident.***
Chavez's "constitution" is a farce instituted by Chavez himself in December 1999, a year after he was elected, to extend his hold on power. Chavez supporters, who controlled 121 of 131 National Assembly seats, rammed the document through the legislature. It was later approved in a national referendum in which over half of the electorate stayed away from the polls. The new "constitution" dissolved the senate, extended the president's term from five to six years, gave greater power to the military, tightened state control over the oil industry, and limited the central bank's autonomy.
The document includes a "truthful information" press provision. It also allows the president to run for a second term, so Chavez can stay in power "legally" for up to 13 years. What happens at the end of the 13 years? No one knows, but it's important to remember that Chavez has tried to take power by force before, staging two failed coups in 1992.
Chavez's contempt for the rule of law is astounding. In the ongoing general strike, he has sent out troops to seize private gasoline-delivery trucks and ordered military commanders to ignore court orders to return the trucks to their owners. He has also seized control of the Caracas police department and defied a court order to return the department to the city's mayor's control. "A country where the judicial system is not autonomous and must submit to the executive is not democratic," said strike leader Carlos Ortega, president of the country's largest labor federation. "Listen well, Venezuela and the world: There is no democracy here."
There is little doubt how most Venezuelans feel about Chavez: They hate him, and for good reason. Many of his former supporters now consider him a dictator. His approval ratings have fallen to around 30 percent from a high of 80 early in his regime. His statist policies have brought the country to the brink of ruin. During Chavez's tenure, the Venezuelan economy has taken and nosedive -- GDP shrank by 7.1 percent just in the first half of this year -- and continues its descent. Meanwhile, his government has been selling 53,000 barrels of oil to Cuba a day at bargain-basement prices.***
I have seen what looks to be the same 8-point medallion on Khadaffi.
Do you know what it signifies?
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