www.heraldtribune.com The Associated Press

A Venezuelan diplomat accused in a $100 million lawsuit of helping direct money to Osama bin Laden after the terrorist attacks has asked the FBI to investigate the former presidential pilot who made the accusation, officials said. Walter Marquez, Venezuela's ambassador to India, met with an agent in Miami on Thursday to file a complaint, FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said. Marquez is responding to allegations made last month by Juan Ramon Diaz, who accused him and President Hugo Chavez of transferring $1 million to the Taliban and al-Qaida shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The money was disguised as humanitarian aid to the Taliban, and Marquez arranged to take the money to Afghanistan, according to the lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch. Diaz's wife allegedly died in the World Trade Center attacks, and the lawsuit asks for $100 million in damages. Marquez said Diaz is lying about the alleged donations to al-Qaida. Marquez displayed letters and bank receipts during a press conference at the Venezuelan Consulate in Miami in an attempt to prove the government made legitimate contributions of $1 million to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees to be used for Afghan aide. He said an additional $1 million was also given to the Indian government for an earthquake relief fund. Diaz fled Venezuela in January, saying he feared for his family's safety. He sought asylum in the United States, but his whereabouts could not be determined Thursday night. The lawsuit does not name the victim but said she was a 47-year-old U.S. national who was at a meeting in the center's South Tower when a hijacked United Airlines jet hit the building below her. The suit was filed on behalf of her husband, two teenage daughters and parents by Judicial Watch. Marquez also has filed a $1 million defamation lawsuit against Diaz.

Information from: South Florida Sun-Sentinel,

Last modified: February 21. 2003 12:58AM

www.nytimes.com

Americans have a twofold interest in Venezuela's resolution of its current political problems peacefully and constitutionally. The country sits atop the largest petroleum fields outside the Middle East, with most of its oil exports going to the United States. A nationwide strike has sharply lowered those exports in recent months. Venezuela may also be the most fragile of Latin America's growing number of troubled democracies. A turn toward authoritarianism of the left or right could have damaging ripple effects across the region.

Regrettably, President Hugo Chávez, instead of working to heal his badly divided country, seems determined to provoke new and dangerous tensions. Less than two days after government and opposition representatives promised to step back from their confrontation, two of the country's most visible opposition leaders face charges of rebellion, sabotage and a series of other crimes growing out of their leadership of a now faltering national strike.

Carlos Fernández, who leads Venezuela's most important business federation, was arrested early yesterday. Carlos Ortega, the head of the country's main union alliance, has gone into hiding. The vindictive charges against them could undo the modest progress recently made toward a peaceful, constitutional resolution of Venezuela's long-running political crisis.

The strike led by Mr. Fernández and Mr. Ortega aimed at forcing Mr. Chávez from power. The right way to determine Venezuela's political future is through democratic elections. The Constitution devised by Mr. Chávez permits a recall vote this August. Between now and then, all sides should work to calm the inflamed political atmosphere. That seemed possible as recently as Tuesday, when government and opposition representatives issued a joint declaration pledging efforts to promote reconciliation and mutual understanding. Then came the two arrest orders.

Mr. Chávez's opponents were already alarmed by the kidnapping and murder of four anti-Chávez demonstrators, whose bodies were found earlier this week. Police investigators now suggest that the killings were not politically motivated, but the victims' relatives disagree.

It's easy to see why. Earlier this month Mr. Chávez proclaimed this the "year of the revolutionary offensive." He vowed to take retribution against his many enemies, especially the strike leaders. Days later he introduced currency controls, and ominously warned that they could be used as a financial weapon against opposition businessmen. The state oil company has permanently dismissed thousands of striking workers.

These steps threaten to overwhelm the compromise proposals put forth by Jimmy Carter after a mediation mission last month. His ideas drew positive responses from both sides and encouragement from Washington. The centerpiece of the package was a recall vote or new elections after August. Preliminary steps called for the opposition to end its strike and for the government to refrain from reprisals. That remains good advice. Unfortunately, Mr. Chávez, having all but vanquished the strike, no longer seems to be listening.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Thursday, February 20, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Reactions to the government-opposition negotiating teams’ non-aggression agreement have been skeptical and mute. Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV) Political Psychology Unit coordinator, Mireya Lozada says the problem is putting the agreement into concrete actions on different levels of society.

Reflecting growing intuition among analysts that agreements reached at the top are not enough to stem the tide of violence, Lozada says the agreement must be assimilated and carried out on all levels of society.

"Each association, political party and NGO must drop insulting and aggressive language … that means both sides must drop the spin that the other side is responsible for the violence … discourse must favor dialogue and respect and democratic values.”

Lozada insists that print & broadcast media have a special role to play to make the agreement work … “they have to make sure that programs don’t contaminate each other and must avoid sending conflicting signals to viewers and listeners.”

bbsnews.net

BBSNews - 2003-02-20 -- From Washington D.C., February 19, 2003 -- The government of Hugo Chávez should carry out a thorough and impartial investigation into the abduction and murder of four opposition supporters whose bodies were found on February 16 and 17, Human Rights Watch said today.

"The circumstances strongly suggest that these were political killings," said José Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch. "The government must launch a prompt and impartial investigation into this vicious crime, and must guarantee the safety of the reported witness to the killings."

Darwin Arguello, an army soldier, Angel Salas, a navy corporal, and Félix Pinto, an airman, were reportedly abducted together in Caracas during the night of February 15. The following day, police discovered Pinto's body and that of a twenty-eight-year-old woman, Zaida Perozo López, close to a highway in the state of Miranda, some forty kilometers east of Caracas.

The bodies of Arguello and Salas were discovered nearby a day later. All four had been bound, gagged with tape and shot repeatedly.

A fourteen-year-old girl, whose name has not been revealed, is believed to have witnessed at least one of the killings and to have been shot and left for dead. She is recovering in a hospital.

Arguello, Salas and Pinto had joined a protest by dissident military officers against the Chávez government and had participated in opposition gatherings in the Plaza Altamira, a square where anti-Chávez activists have been camped for more than three months. Zaida Perozo is also reported to have frequented the square.

A witness to the abductions said that he had seen the victims being forced by men wearing ski-masks into two vehicles a short distance away from the Plaza Altamira.

The political situation in Venezuela remains tense in the wake of a two-month general strike called by the opposition Coordinadora Democrática, the business group Fedecámeras, and the country's largest union federation. President Chavez has rejected opposition demands for a constitutional reform to permit early elections, and has threatened tough measures against the strikers and against private television networks that supported the strike.

At least seven people have been killed and scores injured in street protests since December 2002, but there have been no confirmed reports of extrajudicial executions of opposition or government supporters.

For more information on Human Rights Watch's work on Venezuela, please see: www.hrw.org

www.plastic.com found on the Guardian written by chatsubo, edited by George (Plastic) [ read unedited ] posted Thu 20 Feb 8:05am

"The mostly bloodless political conflict that has gripped Venezuela for many months took a decidedly uglier turn with the news that three anti-Chavez dissident military officers and an accompanying woman were found murdered after being apparently kidnapped and tortured," chatsubo writes. "A fifth person, a 14-year-old girl, was found alive, though in serious condition. "The populist, and some say authoritarian, Chavez has polarised the country, especially since the recent abortive coup attempt, which apparently had U.S. support.

"One of the victim's brothers claims that the officers had been under constant intimidation from Venezuelan security forces and police, and had received death threats from the Bolivarian Circles, self-styled pro-Chavez militias, as well as the far-left Tupamaro group.

"Rafael Narvaez, the head of Venezuela's human rights association, said, 'There are no credible institutions left any more, and there is currently no rule of law or due process in Venezuela, We will push as hard as we can for the authorities to investigate the murders, but if we hit a brick wall, we will ask the international community to apply pressure.'

"The discovery of the bodies was followed by the news that Carlos Fernandez, head of the country's largest business council, and one of the leaders of the general strike, was snatched from a restaurant by armed men claiming to be secret police agents. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton said he had no knowledge of Mr. Fernandez's whereabouts.

"As professional coup watchers will tell you, the use of agent provocateurs was common practice during the Chile and Iran coups.

"As a democratic socialist myself, I would find it profoundly depressing if Chavez has resorted to such brutal, Stalin-era tactics of control and oppression. Surely you don't have to choose between democratic rights and social justice for the poor? Can't you have both?"