Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez reprimanded skeptics on Sunday for questioning his warnings that Washington is out to kill him — an accusation that Venezuela’s opposition dismisses as a ploy to distract attention from domestic problems such as rampant violent crime and corruption.
Venezuelans are sharply divided between those who believe that radicals backed by the US are plotting to assassinate their socialist leader, as the government claims, and critics who seriously doubt the accusations.
“Those who talk about it try to ridicule the allegation. For Venezuela’s opposition, it’s a lie,” Chavez said on his Sunday broadcast show. “Some say it’s a farce.”
“They don’t care about my death,” Chavez said, suggesting some government adversaries would like to see him assassinated.
Chavez ordered the US ambassador to leave Venezuela last week — both to underscore his accusation that the envoy was aiding a purported coup plot by dissident military officers, and to show support for embattled Bolivian President Evo Morales, who expelled the US envoy in that country after accusing him of egging on opposition protesters. The US ambassadors in both countries have denied the allegations.
Chavez also recalled Venezuela’s ambassador in Washington, saying diplomatic relations will not return to normal until US President George W. Bush leaves the White House.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called the allegations against the ambassador false, saying Duddy’s expulsion reflects Chavez’s “weakness and desperation.”
Chavez made the accusations after a recording surfaced of a purported conversation between conspirators on plans to assassinate him and topple his government. He claims plotters sought to blow up the presidential plane or bomb the presidential palace.
Five suspects including active and retired military officers have been detained. Military prosecutors are questioning others.
In the recording, a voice identified as an ex-officer says “we’re going to take” the presidential palace. Others discuss using troops to block highways and establishing communications with military outposts surrounding Caracas.
“It’s proof they’ll do anything to get rid of Chavez,” said Omar Blanco, a 56-year-old mechanic interviewed in downtown Caracas.
He vowed to defend the president “if they try to remove him from power.”
It was not clear when the conversation broadcast on state television was recorded. The military officers identified as suspects have not responded to the accusations publicly, and some suspect the recording is bogus.
“Who would be so stupid as to plan a coup or assassination during a telephone conversation, giving names of the conspirators and details?” radio talk show host Marta Colomina, a fierce Chavez critic, wrote in an editorial published on Sunday in the local El Universal newspaper.
Chavez has accused Washington of conspiring with his opponents to assassinate him or spur his ouster dozens of times since he took office in 1999.
In 2006, Chavez said a sniper with a long-range rifle had planned to shoot him as he exited a helicopter on a trip to western Venezuela. The alleged suspect was never arrested.
Several days later, the former paratroop commander said he had received warnings from within the White House that Washington was plotting to assassinate him. He did not provide details or reveal the name of his alleged source.
And last year, Chavez said Venezuela had gathered intelligence that associates of Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles — a former CIA operative — were plotting his assassination. He did not elaborate, saying only that US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte — a former director of national intelligence — was involved.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
YELLOW SHIRTS: Many protesters were associated with pro-royalist groups that had previously supported the ouster of Paetongtarn’s father, Thaksin, in 2006 Protesters rallied on Saturday in the Thai capital to demand the resignation of court-suspended Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and in support of the armed forces following a violent border dispute with Cambodia that killed more than three dozen people and displaced more than 260,000. Gathered at Bangkok’s Victory Monument despite soaring temperatures, many sang patriotic songs and listened to speeches denouncing Paetongtarn and her father, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and voiced their backing of the country’s army, which has always retained substantial power in the Southeast Asian country. Police said there were about 2,000 protesters by mid-afternoon, although
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
RSS