- Venezuela : Against (B)oligarchy, demagogy and corruption. Autonomous struggle from the ground up!, El Libertario #52. “In its editorial we reaffirm the commitment of this voice of Venezuelan anarchism to maintain a critical viewpoint on the country’s realities, as well as our stand in solidarity with the struggle for liberty and equality.”
Over the last fortnight, there’s been a spate of bombings in Caracas, Venezuela. Originally attributed to ‘foreign agitators’ in the pay of the CIA (aka the Grupo Venceremos de la Izquierda Central Unida), it now appears that Venezuelan authorities are blaming ‘anarchists’ for the blasts, whose targets have reportedly included a statue of George Washington (February 13), the apostolic nunciature (February 14) and a mercantile court and congressional offices in the Jose Maria Vargas building (February 18). Ominously, while the latest blast, the fourth or possibly fifth (according to AP) in a series, is the first to have claimed a life — ostensibly that of the man responsible for planting the bomb — authorities claim to be searching for the “intellectual authors” of the blasts. (Note that a report on venezuelanalysis (One person dead after explosion at Fedecamaras, February 24, 2008) also refers to “an explosive in front of the administrative offices of the National Assembly, on the corner of Pajaritos, which occurred in the early hours of February 18”.)
FARC Prisoners in Same Camp
Prensa Latina
February 26, 2008Caracas, Feb 25 (Prensa Latina) Venezuelan Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez said on Monday that the four Colombians hostages due to be released by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are together in the same camp.
Rodriguez denied they are in separate places, as Colombian officials stated.
He also accused the Colombian military of obstructing the release of the four hostages by carrying out operations in the area where they are due to be handed out to Venezuela.
Rodriguez stressed the four Colombian citizens are in danger because of “powerful operations in the area”.
The Venezuelan Interior minister informed at the press conference that the material authors of Caracas recent bombings were identified as members of an anarchist group.
Our investigations are now focused on identifying the intellectual authors, he said.
nm/ccs/tac/ml
Venezuela Bombing: ‘Anarchists’ Blamed
AP
February 26, 2008CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s justice minister on Monday blamed “anarchists” for an explosion that killed one man [Hector Armando Abreu — Reuters] at the offices of Venezuela’s leading business chamber, and he vowed to capture those responsible.
“We know who they are and we know the game they want to play,” Justice Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin told reporters. “We’re going to capture them.”
The blast near the entrance of the Fedecamaras business chamber headquarters in Caracas killed a 44-year-old [40-year-old — Reuters] man suspected of trying to plant the bomb and shattered windows early Sunday.
Rodriguez said the man was found with an expired card identifying him as an “honorary” police inspector but that he was not an active police officer.
Sunday’s explosion was the fifth reported this month in the Venezuelan capital. In several of them, authorities found scattered pamphlets linking the bombings to a group identified as “Venceremos of the United Center-Left.”
Rodriguez blamed a “small group of anarchists who are looking for political interests.”
“We know who they are by first and last name,” he said.
Also!
Venezuelan off-duty police officer killed in bomb attack
Xinhua
February 25, 2008CARACAS, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) — An off-duty police officer was killed on Sunday by a bomb that exploded outside Fedecamaras, Venezuela’s chamber of commerce, director of the forensic police Marcos Chavez said.
Scattered leaflets handed out by a group called the People’s Left-Wing Army were found at the site that read “Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The guerilla front will win. The People’s Left-wing Army. Caracas. Feb. 24.”
The group claimed responsibility for the attack saying that Fedecamaras is conspiring against the government and is responsible for the food shortages in the country.
Chavez said a document found on the dead man identified him as a Metropolitan Police officer, but declined to comment on whether the officer might also be responsible for detonating the bomb.
A senior official from Fedecamaras Lope Mendoza condemned Sunday’s attack saying he was saddened that the private sector is being blamed for food shortages across the country.
A bomb exploded at the Venezuelan legislature, the National Assembly, last Monday, and on Feb. 13, another explosion occurred close to the statue of George Washington in a Caracas square.
Previously…
No one hurt in blast at Venezuelan courthouse
EFE
February 18, 2008Caracas, Feb 18 (EFE).- No one was injured when a small bomb went off early Monday outside the building in downtown Caracas that houses the commerical courts, media outlets reported.
The blast follows similar attacks here last week at the Vatican mission and at a statute of George Washington, which likewise caused no casualties and only minor damage.
Globovision TV broadcast images showing the impact of the explosion on doors and windows at the courthouse. The network said that unlike last week’s bombings, the latest attack was not accompanied by leaflets bearing the names of two hitherto unknown groups, Venceremos (We Will Prevail) and Izquierda Central Unida (United Center Left).
Police have yet to issue a statement about the explosion at the courthouse.
On Sunday, leftist President Hugo Chavez repeated earlier allegations that Colombia and the United States were engaged in a plan to infiltrate paramilitaries into Venezuela as part of efforts to destabilize his government.
He did not offer any evidence for the charges against Bogota and Washington, which provides Colombia with around $500 million a year in mainly military aid.
Graffiti and leaflets left at the scene indicated that last Thursday’s bombing at the Caracas offices of the papal nuncio was intended to protest the Vatican mission’s decision to extend asylum to an opposition activist accused of attempted murder. EFE
ar/dr
See also : Prosecution Investigates Bombs in Caracas, Prensa Latina, February 14 (“In both cases leaflets were found reivindicating [sic] the attacks in the name [of an] alleged group unknown to this moment, identified as Venceremos de la Izquierda Unida“) | Blast kills one at Venezuela business chamber, Reuters UK, February 24, 2008. This report identifies the dead man as Héctor Armando Abreu, 40. Oddly, “Héctor Armando Abreu, representante de la Comisión Estadal Moral y Luces de Miranda, municipio Zamora” appears in a recent report on the site of the Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Cultura.
