Venezuela erupts in street fighting - Several injured after arrest of general

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Several people were injured in street fights that broke out here Monday after state security agents arrested a dissident general who had participated in the monthlong national strike aimed at forcing the ouster of President Hugo Chavez.

Officials would provide no explanation of the arrest of Gen. Alfonso Martinez, one of 14 military generals who lead regular demonstrations against Chavez.

But the government accuses Martinez and other officers of involvement in an April coup that briefly toppled the leftist president before he was restored to power by loyalist troops.

A lawyer speaking for Martinez said the general has not been charged and that his detention is illegal.

"Whoever is responsible for this, whether it's Hugo Chavez, the interior minister or the head of the National Guard, we'll identify and charge them," said lawyer Cipriano Heredia.

The strike escalated Monday as police used tear gas to separate opponents and supporters of Chavez outside the state oil monopoly's headquarters in Maracaibo, the hub of the country's oil-producing West.

One man, standing with the opposition militants, fell to the ground, bleeding and twitching as blood poured from his head. He was holding a pistol.

The brief disturbance, broadcast live on national television, deepened concerns about the explosive atmosphere generated since the start of a national strike that has crippled Venezuela's oil industry, the lifeblood of the economy, and caused severe shortages of gasoline and cooking fuel.

Chavez's oil minister said Monday that world oil markets will suffer for some time from the effects of the strike.

The 4-week-old strike has shut down key sectors of the economy and created gasoline and food shortages throughout Venezuela, the world's No. 5 exporter. Oil production has plunged from 3 million barrels a day to 260,000 barrels a day.

"For some time, we will have distortions on the world oil markets due to this situation," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Monday.

Strike leader Carlos Ortega, who leads Venezuela's largest labor federation, called on all citizens Monday to stop paying their taxes.

The opposition, backed by business and unions, accuses Chavez of authoritarianism, corruption and economic incompetence in what they say is a quest to establish a Cuban-style dictatorship.

Chavez has kicked many of the renegade officers out of the armed forces and threatened to chase them from the square, but detaining Martinez is the toughest act against them so far.

Venezuela's opposition called the strike to force Chavez to call a Feb. 2 non-binding referendum on his presidency, which runs to 2007. Strike leaders hope a poor showing will increase pressure on Chavez to resign.

Chavez's oil minister said Monday that world oil markets will suffer for some time from the effects of the strike.

Crude prices drop - Motorists may not see change at pump*** Oil prices did something Monday they haven't done for a while -- they went down. After a strong start that saw the price for crude run all the way to $33.65 per barrel, the price of the benchmark February futures contract skidded $1.35 to end the day at $31.37.***
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Strike leader Carlos Ortega, who leads Venezuela's largest labor federation, called on all citizens Monday to stop paying their taxes.

***We've got a new resister who just left Chavez and joined the opposition who adds a whole new dimension to this struggle. He is the highest tax cop in the country. His role is equivalent, I think, to that of the IRS commissioner here. His name as Manuel Jesus Carpio Manrique, ...and he has a CV as long as your arm -- his whole life is in tax enforcement. He founded the school that trains tax collectors, and he is the co-founder of "Seniat" (which is Venezuela's version of the IRS). Today, he is now a Plaza Altamira resister.

And, not only that: HE ALSO JOINED THE TAX REVOLT MOVEMENT. He was on TV last night, urging everyone to stop paying their taxes! Here is what he is saying: " - I am one of the founders of Seniat, Venezuela's tax office. But today, I am calling for active and open tax resistance. Not one $ more for Chavez and his crew!" *** Source

Venezuela Strikers Threaten Anti-Chavez Tax Revolt *** "Today we are taking the road of legitimate civil disobedience," said another strike leader, union boss Carlos Ortega. "We will refuse to pay taxes to a regime which renders no accounts and squanders the money of the people." The opposition could also call an assembly to rewrite the constitution, Fernandez said, adding that the law allows for such a move if it is clearly shown to be the will of the people. Tax evasion is rife in Venezuela at the best of times.

Chavez, a former paratrooper who was jailed after a botched coup in 1992 but was elected in 1998, has fought hard against the strike, firing executives from state oil giant PDVSA and ordering troops onto halted oil tankers. In a major role-reversal for the oil-rich nation, he has imported some gasoline to ease lines hundreds of cars long at filling stations. The government said that oil output would climb back to a third of normal next week, but PDVSA rebels said efforts to kick-start petroleum production were failing. ***

Hugo Chavez - Venezuela

An opponent of President Hugo Chavez kicks a tear gas canister during a clash between opponents and supporters outside of the Venezuelan secret police headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Dec 30, 2002. The secret police arrested Gen. Carlos Alfonso Martinez, one of dozens who have occupied a city square for three months, declaring themselves in rebellion against Chavez.(AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

Venezuelan police break up fight between Chavez foes and followers in strike unrest *** Chavez opponents broke through police lines and tried to tear down a tent set up by the president's supporters outside the offices of state oil monopoly in the western city of Maracaibo, in violence broadcast live by Globovision television. Police fired tear gas to end a tug-of-war over the tent. The rival bands continued shouting at each other as police shoved back the two crowds with riot shields.***

Political Prisoner: Chavez Government Arrests, Keeps Incomunicado High General

Arrested for speaking in public:
General Carlos Alfonzo Martinez

By Johan Freitas, in Caracas

Monday, while giving a pro-democracy speech in a public square in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, one of the country's highest ranking Generals was arbitrarily detained by forces loyal to the Chavez government.

At 2:10 pm, General Carlos Alfonzo Martinez of the Guardia Nacional was detained by five DISIP (Political Police) squadrons, acting on direct verbal orders from beleaguered president Hugo Chavez and without a formal order for his arrest. No charges were pressed, nor had a warrant been issued. The exact whereabout of Gen. Alfonzo Martinez are currently unknown, and no Chavez loyalist has been willing to issue a statement.

When detained, general Alfonzo Martinez was in Plaza Madariaga in the El Paraíso neighborhood of Caracas, participating in a public pro-democracy event calling for free and democratic elections. Immediately after giving a speech, DISIP forces moved in to arrest him, without stating the grounds for his arrest. TV crews in the square filmed how machinegun fire dispersed his pro-democracy supporters.

Cipriano Heredia, legal counsel for Gen. Alfonzo Martinez, was refused access to his client. When he presented himself at DISIP headquarters, he was told to leave or else suffer the consequences. TV cameras then filmed a DISIP-officer signalling a waiting Chavez-group into action. Minutes later, a coordinated team of apparently civilian Chavez supporters arrived with molotov cocktails, bricks, and firearms, and attacked the lawyer's vehicle. The destroyed wreck still sits in front of DISIP, Helicoide, Caracas, along with a TV truck from the RCTV channel that were vandalized in the same action.

" - This is state sponsored terrorism," says Heredia. "Everyone saw on TV how the officers coordinated with their civilian terror groups, who then arrived as ordered and started the previously planned violence."

In the attack, one person was wounded by a stone thrown at close range by a Chavez supporter. This, too, was filmed and shown on live national television. The victim went into spasms, and is currently in intensive care and in unstable condition.

No one has been able to talk to General Carlos Alfonzo Martinez, despite repeated attempts by both his lawyer and his wife.

" - They are keeping my client incomunicado," says Heredia. "As his lawyer, I am supposed to have access to him. But Venezuela is today a savage police state."

Our repeated attempts to contact a government spokesperson were consistently unsuccesful. More than ten different officials contacted were all "on vacation".

Doris de Martínez, wife of the illegally arrested general, was also unable to obtain any information about her husband. The arresting officers would not tell her where they took him, nor why.

" - In theory, Venezuela's constitution allows freedom of speech, including speech critical of the president. But in practice, we see now how Chavez acts. He does not allow views other than his own. This is a violation of all constitutional rights. I hold Hugo Chavez directly responsible. However, my husband can not be intimidated. He will continue to ask for freedom and elections."

" - The General is now a political prisoner," says fellow general Enrique Medina Gomez, also a resister who is critical of Chavez. "By kidnapping him this way, we see the Chavez dictatorship in action. He was kidnapped. There was no order for his arrest, because you can not be arrested for speaking your mind and asking for free and democratic elections."

Medina Gomez started this year as Chavez's Military Attache in Washington D.C., but then broke with Chavez when he found out the true plans of the Chavez regime. Today, Medina Gomez is one of Chavez's most vocal opponents.

" - Desperately clinging to power, Hugo Chavez is now taking political prisoners. He has shown the world that he is not a democrat. His government is totalitarian, and will not tolerate free elections for Venezuela."

More information on these top military officers who have only recently left Chavez, and know and share what's really going on there, is here:
www.MilitaresDemocraticos.com

December 30, 2002

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