A move to arrest a prominent opposition leader sent thousands of anti-government protesters into the streets of the Venezuela’s second-largest city on Friday, accusing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of launching a new attack against his critics.
The protest came after a prosecutor called for the arrest of Mayor Manuel Rosales, a prominent Chavez opponent who has been accused of corruption.
Rosales told the crowd: “There is no justice in Venezuela ... But we will continue fighting.”
Critics said Chavez and his allies were leading a two-pronged offensive by persecuting opponents and increasing presidential power by putting all airports, highways and seaports under federal control. Several key ports were previously administered by Chavez opponents.
Chavez won a key vote last month that eliminated term limits.
He has warned governors that they could be arrested if they try to resist the new law bringing transportation hubs under national control.
“The persecution of the opposition is beginning, and I’m sure that Rosales won’t be the last to go to jail,” opposition leader Oscar Perez said.
Chavez denied persecuting opponents for political reasons and has called for Rosales to be jailed on corruption allegations stemming from the mayor’s 2002 to 2004 term as governor of Zulia state.
The attorney general’s office said the case against Rosales was based on a 2007 report by the country’s comptroller general, the leading anti-corruption authority, that found Rosales received funds “he could not justify.”
Analyst Luis Vicente Leon said some of Chavez’s actions appeared aimed at instilling fear in his foes.
“He’s sending the message that he’s capable of going against anybody — no matter how strong you are,” said Leon, a Caracas-based economist and pollster.
Some critics were also alarmed by the socialist leader’s efforts to clamp down with more state control over the economy as the effects of the world economic meltdown begin to set in — compounded by low prices for Venezuelan oil, which provides 94 percent of export earnings.
Chavez has been playing hardball to try to get private companies to produce more price-controlled items as required under strict new regulations aimed at containing inflation. He ordered the expropriation of a rice plant owned by Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc earlier this month and warned major food producer Empresas Polar that it could be taken over if it does not obey the new regulations.
Chavez was to announce economic measures yesterday to help cope with the global crisis.
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
A Japanese city would urge all smartphone users to limit screen time to two hours a day outside work or school under a proposed ordinance that includes no penalties. The limit — which would be recommended for all residents in Toyoake City — would not be binding and there would be no penalties incurred for higher usage, the draft ordinance showed. The proposal aims “to prevent excessive use of devices causing physical and mental health issues... including sleep problems,” Mayor Masafumi Koki said yesterday. The draft urges elementary-school students to avoid smartphones after 9pm, and junior-high students and older are advised not
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has fired his national police chief, who gained attention for leading the separate arrests of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte on orders of the International Criminal Court and televangelist Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, who is on the FBI’s most-wanted list for alleged child sex trafficking. Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin did not cite a reason for the removal of General Nicolas Torre as head of the 232,000-member national police force, a position he was appointed to by Marcos in May and which he would have held until 2027. He was replaced by another senior police general, Jose
POWER CONFLICT: The US president threatened to deploy National Guards in Baltimore. US media reports said he is also planning to station troops in Chicago US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to deploy National Guard troops to yet another Democratic stronghold, the Maryland city of Baltimore, as he seeks to expand his crackdown on crime and immigration. The Republican’s latest online rant about an “out of control, crime-ridden” city comes as Democratic state leaders — including Maryland Governor Wes Moore — line up to berate Trump on a high-profile political stage. Trump this month deployed the National Guard to the streets of Washington, in a widely criticized show of force the president said amounts to a federal takeover of US capital policing. The Guard began carrying
RSS