| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Captain Compassion" |
| Date: |
18 Aug 2006 12:34:45 AM |
| Object: |
Distrust of Venezuela military growing |
Distrust of Venezuela military growing
By NATALIE OBIKO PEARSON, Associated Press Writer
Thu Aug 17, 5:16 PM ET
LA VICTORIA, Venezuela - The young soldier staggered back to his post
and fell to his knees, crying hysterically as a comrade took his gun.
The bodies of eight unarmed people — including two children — were
later found burned, gagged and shot at a ranch down the road.
Neighbor Maria Caicedo witnessed the scene and said she has felt
betrayed and afraid ever since.
"You think you're being protected by someone, and look at what
happens," she said.
The massacre last month near Venezuela's lawless border with Colombia
has deepened public mistrust of the Venezuelan military, soon after it
deployed thousands of additional troops along the border to keep out
Colombia's leftist rebels, right-wing paramilitary fighters and drug
traffickers.
Top Venezuelan defense officials condemned the slayings, blamed on a
soldier in a murderous rage who was swiftly arrested. The results of a
confidential investigation conducted by civilian prosecutors have so
far been shown only to victims' relatives. One relative, speaking on
condition of anonymity because the results were not supposed to be
released, said they indicate rape was the motive and that the soldier
acted alone.
Still, the killings have made it more difficult for the soldiers to
assert their authority. Resentment boils, seen in graffiti such as
"Get out, army murderers!" and a protest shortly after the massacre
that drew nearly 1,000 people.
Some residents say the Venezuelan soldiers can be abusive and
ineffective at times, conducting random interrogations for hours,
stripping people of documents, even robbing homes and firing at people
for minor infractions. In one military operation that went awry last
year, a 14-year-old boy was riddled with bullets after soldiers
mistook him for a guerrilla.
Venezuelan Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez said the detained
soldier, Luis Jefferson Lira Rodriguez, 20, admitted involvement in
the July 20 massacre at Ranch Adi but said he acted on orders from at
least one other lieutenant who claimed there was a Colombian rebel
camp nearby.
For some residents, doubts remain about how the single soldier managed
to keep eight people under control.
But the relative who spoke on condition of anonymity said a survivor —
a 9-year-old boy who later died in a hospital from severe burns — told
authorities the soldier arrived alone at the house and was let inside
by his mother, Flor Maria Lizarazo, who recognized the serviceman from
a nearby military checkpoint.
The soldier was angered after his overtures toward Lizarazo were
rejected, the relative said. Using his assault rifle to take a
hostage, he ordered everyone to lie on the floor while Lizarazo's
husband was forced to tie them up.
The relative said investigators discovered the soldier had a criminal
history, including the rape of a 12-year-old girl and illegal drug
use, and tested positive for cocaine and marijuana at a military
hospital after his arrest.
Although neighbors describe the area around the ranch as relatively
trouble-free, the Colombian rebel stronghold of Arauca is just across
the river. Colombia's two largest guerrilla groups often cross over,
extorting money from farmers and ranchers, and carrying out
assassinations, residents say.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe
have tried to cooperate more to improve border security. In June,
Venezuela said it sent up to 6,000 more troops to the border region,
joining about 15,000 soldiers working to secure the 1,370-mile
frontier of mountains and dense jungle.
There nonetheless were at least 30 assassinations in the first three
months of the year around El Nula, a Venezuelan parish of 12,000
people near the ranch, said Rev. Acacio Belandria, a Jesuit priest.
Caicedo and her family moved next door to the ranch last year after
fleeing violence in Tame, Colombia. She wonders if they are any safer,
and says her two young daughters now hide under the bed whenever
soldiers approach the house.
"We came hoping to find more tranquility," she said. "We didn't know
that our worst enemy was right behind our backs."
--
"Science is the record of dead religions." -- Oscar Wilde
"There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to
whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success is
impossible." -- Jack Vance
"Civilization is the interval between Ice Ages." -- Will Durant.
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" -- Ambrose Bierce
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
daranc@NOSPAMverizon.net
.
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| User: "Crescentius Vespasianus" |
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| Title: Re: Distrust of Venezuela military growing |
18 Aug 2006 07:20:03 PM |
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LA VICTORIA, Venezuela - The young soldier staggered back to his post
and fell to his knees, crying hysterically as a comrade took his gun.
The bodies of eight unarmed people - including two children - were
later found burned, gagged and shot at a ranch down the road.
Neighbor Maria Caicedo witnessed the scene and said she has felt
betrayed and afraid ever since.
In a socialist revolution, the army is their friend, until after the
rich leave for Miami. Then the guns point towards the poor, because they
are unable to leave. It's not about equality, it's about total power.
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