Posted on 01/11/2002 12:20:57 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Caracas metropolitan police disperse a rowdy protest with water cannon and tear gas. National guardsmen arrive and allow the demonstrators to regroup. The incident this week is one of several sparking concern about rival politicians using security forces for competing ends.
``This has never been seen before,'' said Fausto Maso, a political columnist for El Nacional. ``It can generate a social eruption in Caracas.''
The 1,400-member metropolitan police is controlled by Greater Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena, a staunch opponent of President Hugo Chavez. The national government controls the national guard.
Both forces are often dispatched to control strikes and protests, which in this impoverished South American capital numbered more than 700 last year. Most protests have been peaceful, but in recent weeks, supporters and opponents of the government have clashed during rival demonstrations.
On Monday, the metropolitan police fired shots into the air, lobbed tear gas canisters and used a firehose to repress an unauthorized protest of Chavez supporters against Caracas daily El Nacional, which the president accused of lying about his government.
Moments later, the national guard moved in, asked the police to retreat and allowed the protesters to regroup. National guardsmen also shielded El Nacional employees as they left the building.
Chavez accused Pena of promoting police abuse when government supporters take to the streets. The president suggested he could seize control of the metropolitan police force.
``Don't be surprised if I make certain decisions,'' Chavez said Wednesday, adding that he won't allow a ``repressive and crazy force to be on the loose, using their power against an unarmed population.''
Pena said any attempt by the president to seize control of his police force would be unconstitutional, and vowed to continue ordering force to quell unauthorized protests. He accused Chavez of trying to ``instigate a confrontation between the national guard and the metropolitan police.''
Officers of both the national guard and police vowed not to let politics drive a wedge between the two forces. But they also exchanged accusations of mishandling unrest.
Police sub-director Lazaro Forero criticized the national guard for intruding on police Monday and attributed the incident to the ``lack of experience of one national guard officer.''
National guard Chief Gen. Belisario Landis countered that a conflict ``cannot be resolved with water cannons.''
During a nationwide general strike last month, the arrival of two trucks of national guardsmen surprised metropolitan police trying to control pro-Chavez protesters. The police responded by lining up behind their riot shields.
The guardsmen eventually left without leaving their trucks, and Police Chief Henry Vivas dismissed the incident as a ``misunderstanding.''
Some also warn of animosity between the metropolitan police and a smaller police force that patrols one of the five districts in Caracas. The smaller force is controlled by federal district Mayor Freddy Bernal, a Chavez ally.
One metropolitan policeman said he recognized federal district police officers in plainclothes among Chavez sympathizers who tried to storm an opposition march last month.
Chavez Marks Election Anniversary with Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement neighborhood committees (Neighbors ratting on neighbors, just like Castro's Cuba Revolutionary Defense Committees.)
With so many countries in meltdown, I'm thrilled Bush Bypasses Senate, Appoints Conservatives Reich to State, Scalia to Labor--[Excerpt] The Democratic-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee refused to give Reich a hearing, mostly because of opposition from Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.
Dodd and his allies consider Reich, a Cuban-American with close ties to conservative anti-Castro Cubans, to be unqualified for the post.
Dodd has said that Reich lacks bipartisan support.
But Secretary of State Colin Powell called Reich, a former ambassador to Venezuela, the most important among the State Department's unconfirmed nominees.
"He has done nothing - nothing at all - in his career in government that should be seen as disqualifying for this job," Powell said recently.
The Democrats' concerns over Reich focus on his lobbying activities as well as his leadership of the State Department's one-time Office of Public Diplomacy for Latin America and the Caribbean. The office - which Reich led from its inception in June 1983 until January 1986 - was accused of running an illegal, covert domestic propaganda effort against Nicaragua's Sandinista government and in favor of the Contra rebels.
Reich has denied any wrongdoing. [End Excerpt]
________
Cuban President Fidel Castro (L), Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (C) and Colombian Andres Pastrana REUTERS/Jose Miguel Gomez
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.