[Cincinatus' Wife]

Caracas Police Under Fire From Hugo Chavez***Outgunned by criminals, dodging bullets, stones and fireworks at demonstrations, Caracas` metropolitan police are under fire from another enemy; the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.***

[Cincinatus' Wife]

As National Guard troops stood by and did nothing, the pro-Chavez demonstrators threw stones, bottles and firebombs at the police and destroyed a police post, demolishing its plaster walls with clubs and setting it on fire. "This gives the impression that the National Guard unit was protecting the government supporters," Forero said. But Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel had a different view: "The National Guard ... acted to protect a group of citizens who were being attacked by the Metropolitan Police," he told reporters.

Doesn't look like they're being attacked by the Metro Police.

Supporters of President Hugo Chavez use a car part and hammer to destroy a metropolitan police station during clashes in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, June 13, 2003. Police and national guardsmen fought pitched street battles with supporters of Chavez who attempted to disrupt an opposition rally in a poor Caracas district. (AP Photo/Gregorio Marrero)

[Bogey78O]

"If I have to take over these police again, I will. ... We, as the state, hold the monopoly of force,"- Chavez.

"Federal law-enforcement officials, are privileged to do what would otherwise be unlawful if done by a private citizen. It's a fundamental function of our government."
--Clinton administration Solicitor General Seth Waxman

Is there any question as to why the left loves this guy?

[lilylangtree]

Civil war in the making? And good thing that Venezuela changed to the EU from the dollar last week. Govt instability is the name of the game in Venezuela.

[marron]

With the rival security forces all nervously eyeing each other instead of fighting lawbreakers, crime has increased by 30 percent in Caracas

Crime increases primarily because the philosophy and rhetoric projected from the presidential palace effectively justifies theft and assault. Public morality should provide a philosophical barrier to crime, so that crime involves not only breaking the law, but also a violation of conscience. But Chavist populism places blame for misery always on others, the rich, the foreigner, the opposition, and this effectively removes the barriers of conscience.

This is why Venezuela has always had a problem with crime, and this is why it has grown dramatically worse under Chavez' rule. The kind of populism endemic to Venezuela effectively justifies crime, and under Chavez has become the national religion. Police are often seen as the enemy in countries where they suppress the rights of innocent citizens. In populist Venezuela they are the enemy if they defend the innocent.

[The_Victor]

Pitifully written headline alert:

Why would the Caracas Police want to force duck's bullets and politics? What did the ducks do wrong?

[Teacher317]

We, as the state, hold the monopoly of force," Chavez said recently.

How sad that America's government has been adopting this very attitude, slowly and surely, for about 75 years now.