Posted on 08/05/2003 1:26:15 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS - The recent abduction of a former state governor opposed to President Hugo Chávez has sparked a controversy amid fears that it could be the first political kidnapping in Venezuelan history.
Sergio Calderón, the former secretary general of the COPEI party, has not been heard from since he was abducted July 25 by five gunmen who wore hoods covering their heads but not their faces.
The snatching of the popular opposition leader known as ''El Cura'' -- the priest -- has sparked fears that it signals a critical turn in Venezuela's 16-month political crisis.
''I don't dare say that this is the start of a chain of kidnappings, but it could be a dangerous detonator in Venezuela's political situation,'' local assemblyman Alexis Balza, a friend of Calderón's, told The Herald. ``The government should be more interested in solving this.''
Calderón was the governor of Táchira, the western state that borders Colombia, from 1998 to 2000.
His state suffers from influences of Colombian guerrillas believed to operate on both sides of the border. Kidnappings of ranchers have become commonplace -- 29 this year and six in July alone.
NOT WEALTHY
But what makes Calderón's case significant is that people in the region knew that the outspoken critic of Chávez was saddled with medical bills from a daughter's recent battle with leukemia.
'He wasn't `kidnappable,' '' Balza said, using the Latin American term for a wealthy person deemed worth abducting and extorting. ``This is a man who dedicated his life to gathering riches not for himself, but for Táchira.''
Although Caracas' crime rate is among the hemisphere's highest, Venezuela has not experienced the kinds of widespread political murders and abductions that plague its western neighbor. Unlike in Colombia, guerrilla groups known to operate here, such as the Bolivarian Liberation Forces, are pro-government, made up of Chávez supporters who say they are preparing to resist in case of a coup against the president.
But as more and more leaders cry out against the leftist so-called ''revolution'' led by Chávez, acts of political violence have soared.
BOMBINGS
Bombs went off near the Spanish embassy and Colombian consulate in Caracas on Feb. 25, causing significant damage. In April, a bomb ripped apart the building used to house negotiations brokered by the Organization of American States just hours after the government and its opposition announced an agreement aimed at ending the crisis.
On June 25, a car parked in front of the home of Miranda Gov. Enrique Mendoza, considered a front-runner to replace Chávez, was bombed. Authorities said they found pamphlets at the scene reading, ``The revolution cannot be negotiated; it must be deepened.''
''There have been overt, outright attacks on senior political figures, but this is the first kidnapping of a senior political figure,'' said political consultant Eric Ekvall. ``To me, it's very, very significant. It's a signal of an escalation on the part of guerrillas -- and I don't just mean Colombian. I'm worried this will become a trend.''
FAULTING EFFORT
Opposition leaders say the government is not doing much to track the gunmen who abducted the former governor in front of his ex-wife and their children at dusk as they drove to the family ranch.
In a phone interview with The Herald, the victim's wife stressed that she doesn't know whether the kidnapping was politically motivated.
''It would be painful for Venezuela to be like Colombia and those other countries that have political terrorism,'' Calderón's wife, Arelys de Calderón, said. ``I prefer to wait to find out what happened. For the good of Venezuela, I want things to be another way.''
U.S. SPEAKS OUT
Underlining the importance of the case, the U.S. Embassy here spoke out last week against Calderón's kidnapping and urged that authorities solve the case, drawing a complaint from Vice President José Vicente Rangel that the diplomatic mission was meddling in Venezuelan affairs.
''I don't think it's interference in anybody's affairs to be concerned about a major figure who gets kidnapped and to say that the government has a responsibility to investigate crime,'' U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Tuesday in Washington.
Police officials have declined to offer many details about the investigation. Penal Investigations coordinator David Zerpa said at a news conference Friday that no theory has been discarded.
''We trust that we'll resolve not just this kidnapping, but all kidnappings,'' Interior Minister Lucas Rincón said.
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