Monday 26 August 2013

Venezuelan opposition scoffs at "another plot" to kill President

As if in the grip of the Cold War, Venezuela's socialist rulers have denounced yet another foreign-backed plot against Venezuela, this time in the form of a plan - foiled in time - to assassinate either the President or the Speaker of Parliament. On 26 August the Interior Minister Miguel Rodríguez Torres revealed that two Colombians aged 18 and 22, said to be members of a 10-man squad sent from Colombia, were arrested in a Caracas hotel on 15 August, their hotel room revealing an incriminating paraphernalia of guns, binoculars, army badges and pictures of "targets." The Minister said the plan was to kill President Nicolás Maduro, and failing that the Speaker of Parliament Diosdado Cabello Rondón, Cuba's Prensa Latina agency reported. The country's leading opponent Henrique Capriles Radonsky said the claims were laughable. Not for the first time the detained were linked to Colombia's former conservative president Álvaro Uribe Vélez. Mr Uribe, who had precarious ties at best with Venezuela's late leader Hugo Chávez, has become a bête noire for the Maduro administration, which accuses him of conniving with Venezuelan opponents to undermine the regime. Mr Rodríguez suggested Mr Uribe was involved because "he has relations with and is connected to a group of drug traffickers...he is undoubtedly informed of what is happening," Europa Press reported. Mr Capriles told a gathering in Caucagua in the state of Miranda that day that "nobody believes this tale...people merely laugh at these announcements," though he cautioned the incident's "impact" should be observed, Venezuela's El Universal reported. How many times he asked, "have they spoken of plots to kill leaders (magnicidio)...does anyone really believe these lies?" President Maduro in turn thanked "the Government of Colombia for all its cooperation in identifying the gunmen...and the...hired gang," writing on the website Twitter. He added that "the Right's immediate reaction to the gunmen's capture showed these fascist groups' lack of scruples." On 24 August Mr Maduro warned Venezuelans to expect the opposition's "psychological campaign" and "dirty war" ahead of municipal elections set for 8 December, the official AVN news agency reported.

Guerrilla commander, two fighters shot in raid in northern Colombia

Colombian troops shot dead early on 25 August three fighters of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) including one identified as head of Front 57 and a key drug trafficker for the FARC, in a raid on a camp near Panama's border, agencies reported on 26 August. Authorities regularly accuse the FARC of producing and trafficking drugs - this being with extortion among their funding mechanisms - and the FARC occasionally reject the charge. The Defence Ministry identified the commander, a man dubbed Sílver, as involved in sending drugs into Panama, the Telam and EFE agencies reported. The daily El Tiempo observed that Sílver was dubbed the capo of the FARC and that the state believed him to have amply financed the FARC Secretariat with drug funds. The Army separately reported on 25 August that a member of the FARC's Front 41 surrendered to troops in the district of Agustín Codazzi in the northern state of César, asking to be admitted into the rehabilitation programme for guerrillas. The fighter was dubbed Geiner or Checho and described as 28 years old. In the eastern city of Cúcuta, Police detained during undated raids 10 suspected members of the Rastrojos, one of the country's main criminal gangs, Caracol radio reported on 26 August. The broadcaster cited the city's police chief Colonel Carlos Rodríguez as saying that the 10 were were believed engaged in local drug dealing and extortion, and would be investigated for possible involvement in killings.