[Cincinatus' Wife]

New Information Ties Chavez Government to Snipers*** Although the Bolivarian Circles immediately were suspected of playing a role in the violence of April 11, new allegations of illegal ties between the militias and the Chavez regime now are surfacing.

For instance, a group of 30 DISIP officials charged in sworn depositions on May 14 that DISIP personnel and resources were being used to train and arm some Bolivarian Circles. On May 20, Air Force Brig. Gen. Pedro Pereira testified that members of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) party had racked up 500 hours of military flight time on missions to indoctrinate Bolivarian Circle members. The use of government resources for purposes of political indoctrination is illegal, but the Chavez regime routinely has ignored the constitution in advancing its agenda.

Meanwhile, sources say government investigators have identified four of the rooftop snipers from April 11: an army major and lieutenant colonel assigned to the presidential guard and two DISIP agents. The sources say the government confirmed these identities nearly six weeks ago but has kept the information secret because it directly implicates National Armed Forces (FAN) and political security officials close to Chavez. They also say that all four shooters received their military sniper training in Cuba and belonged to an unofficial team that was coordinated outside FAN and DISIP command and control channels by Otaiza.

Meanwhile, Otaiza's interview with El Nacional in which he charged that rogue DISIP agents are planning an ethnic cleansing campaign appears to form part of a government strategy that increasingly employs obvious threats and intimidation of political opponents. For example, Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel warned recently that the only alternative to dialogue is civil war, while Interior and Justice Minister Diosdado Cabello claimed in National Assembly testimony last week that the Bolivarian Circles now number nearly 1.5 million people throughout Venezuela.

However, these intimidation tactics do not appear to be working. Military sources opposed to Chavez immediately dismissed Cabello's numbers as wildly false, saying the true number of Bolivarian Circle members is less than 10,000. They also pledged that the FAN would intervene decisively if the circles ever resorted to mass violence.***

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Chavez Faces $2.3 Billion Scandal*** The Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) said Wednesday that it never received $2.3 billion from the government destined for a rainy day fund, plunging the administration of President Hugo Chávez into a major misappropriation scandal…………Influential afternoon newspaper Tal Cual charged Wednesday that the government had incurred into "a mega corruption" and said Chávez owed the nation an explanation and to reveal the true destiny of the money. "Without any doubt," said Tal Cual," it (the government) used part of the money to cover ordinary government expenditures, but a fair amount was used to finance the expenses and trips to Cuba of the Bolivarian Circles," the government's highly criticized militia.***