Latest News From Venezuela
www.newsmax.com Tiana Perez, NewsMax.com
Editor's note: Tiana Perez, NewsMax's correspondent in Venezuela, will offer occasional dispatches on the turmoil in this crucial part of the world.
Chavez Accused of Terrorism, Crimes Against Humanity
Jan. 28: Spanish lawyer Luis Garcia Perulles has confirmed that a complaint has been filed at the National Spanish Council against president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez alleging crimes against humanity, violation of human rights and terrorism.
The action has come as a result of the death of José Antonio Gamallo, a Spanish citizen who was transported to Spain after having been seriously wounded during the protests that preceded the attempted coup on April 11, 2001.
The massive protest attended by more than 1 million people in the center of Caracas left a death toll of 17, leading to a trial and hearings at the National Assembly that lasted for more than one month. Lawyers representing the dead protesters did not accomplish more than a political discussion at the National Assembly despite having presented video proofs of Chavez backers and members of the government shooting at the peaceful crowd.
The hearings, which had as their high point the disclosure of recorded phone conversations by senior military officials between the president and members of the armed forces at Miraflores, the presidential palace, show that Chavez had ordered to unleash the “Plan Avila” on the morning before senior military officials asked him to resign.
The “Plan Avila” is a contingency plan designed to suppress civilians and foresees the seizure of the street by tanks and the armed forces. Gen. Rosendo, who was put in charge of the plan and one of the disclosers of this information at the National Assembly, considered the plan an unjustifiable atrocity toward the unarmed protesters and did not proceed to carry it on.
Following the inability of the Venezuelan judicial system to resolve the case, the lawyers representing Gamallo have taken the complaint to the international arena.
"The Venezuelan State is doing everything possible to obstruct the approval of judicial decisions,”[1] said Garcia, one of the lawyers, in reference to the proceedings caused by the events on April 11th.
He assured that the filing of the complaint accusing the government of terrorist activities before the Spanish judicial authorities was based on evidence about the redirection of funds to terrorist groups’ accounts. Garcia explained that his evidence included audiovisual material that would be evaluated by the assigned judge.
When consulted about the judicial proceedings that will be launched in Spain, Venezuelan Vice President José Vicente Rangel declared "this shows gross ignorance about what a state of law is. It is important to exhaust all national judicial resources before an international action is started. Secondly, I think it reveals a complete lack of imagination and sense of responsibility.”[2]
He charged that the ones who should be put on trial were those who sabottaged the oil industry, disrupted two months ago with the beginning of the general strike against President Chavez's rule.
PDVSA, the state oil company, remains occupied by military forces and is operating with 5,000 employees less, who had resigned and left their posts as a protest against an increased politization of the company. Meanwhile, oil exports have been restored to about one-third of usual daily production of 3.1 million barrels.
[1]: www.globovision.com, Jan. 28 [2]: El Universal, Jan. 28