Venezuelan Troops Seize Police Weapons
www.austin360.com By STEPHEN IXER Associated Press Writer
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)--Soldiers loyal to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez seized heavy weapons and anti-riot equipment Tuesday from Caracas' police force, which the government accused of siding with Chavez's opponents.
Critics called the move another attempt by Chavez to weaken Greater Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena, one of Chavez's most vocal critics. Chavez insists the 9,000-strong Caracas police force, which reports to Pena, routinely suppresses pro-government demonstrations.
Troops searched several police stations at dawn Tuesday, confiscating submachine guns as well as .12-caliber rifles used to fire rubber bullets and tear gas, said Cmdr. Freddy Torres, the department's legal consultant. Officers were allowed to keep their standard issue .38-caliber pistols.
Police said they were still determining the total number of weapons seized. A Defense Ministry spokesman declined to comment on the confiscations.
The seizure could raise tensions in a 44-day-old general strike aimed at ousting Chavez, which has been marked by almost daily street protests, including clashes between Chavez supporters and opponents.
We don't understand this action,'' police chief Henry Vivas told Union Radio. This leaves us at a tremendous disadvantage against criminals. Instead of disarming criminals, they disarm the police. It's outrageous.'' Also seized was anti-riot equipment like tear gas canisters and rubber bullets.
The weapons raids came hours after Chavez's government restored Pena's authority over the police on Monday, Torres said.
Chavez ordered the military to take control of the police department in November, arguing police brutally repressed his supporters during protests. Pena says Chavez sympathizers attack police and that crime has risen since the military took control.
Vivas said the confiscation violated a Supreme Court ruling ordering the government to return the force to the mayor's control.
The police cannot act like protectors of a political side,'' Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel told foreign reporters Tuesday. It's not right that each time (police) go out on the streets, it's to create victims.''
Rangel would not provide details on the raids.
Carlos Guerra, commander of a police station in a poor western Caracas precinct, said about 40 armed National Guard soldiers seized 62 submachine guns and 132 ammunition magazines from his station.
We're left defenseless against the criminals,'' Guerra said. Officers can't offer the same protection when we've only got revolvers and criminals have automatic weapons. If there is a bank robbery there's not much we can do.''
In 2002, there were more than 9,000 homicides in Venezuela, up from almost 8,000 in 2001, according to federal police figures. Figures for Caracas were not immediately available.
The raid comes as Chavez has vowed to defeat the strike aimed at forcing him from power, which has almost paralyzed Venezuela's crucial oil industry. He threatened last week to order troops to seize control of food plants participating in the stoppage.
On Monday, Energy and Mines Minister Rafael Ramirez called the walkout an act of ``terrorism'' that has cost the country $4 billion.
``All these acts of terrorism have brought tremendous consequences for the nation,'' Ramirez said in a televised address.
Once the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, Venezuela has had to pay $105 million to import more than 2 million barrels of gasoline since the general strike began Dec. 2, Ramirez said.
Oil provides half of government revenue and 80 percent of export earnings. The walkout is strongest in state oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., where 30,000 of 40,000 workers are off the job.
Chavez has fought back by firing at least 1,000 white-collar workers at PDVSA.
Ramirez said daily oil production now surpasses 800,000 barrels. Striking oil executives fired by Chavez say output is just over 400,000 barrels a day. Before the strike, production was up to 3 million barrels a day.
Some strike leaders were considering asking small businesses _ who say they cannot sustain losses much longer--to resume work, together with medical workers and teachers, hoping to avoid a popular backlash.
Most private schools and some public schools have been closed since the strike started. Hospital workers supporting the strike are only attending emergencies. Many supermarkets have run out of milk and are running low on staples such as flour and drinking water. Many medicines no longer are available at pharmacies.
William Davila, another Democratic Coordinator leader, said the food industry also should be given the freedom to ensure basic supplies.
But Davila said any easing of the strike should depend on a forthcoming Supreme Court ruling on the legality of a nonbinding referendum on Chavez's rule sought by the strikers.
Chavez says the nonbinding vote would be unconstitutional. His presidency runs until January 2007, and Venezuela's constitution says a binding referendum may be held halfway into his six-year term, or August.