Venezuela Reels from Killings of Dissidents
reuters.com Wed February 19, 2003 04:56 PM ET By Phil Stewart
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela reeled on Wednesday from the shotgun-killings of three dissident soldiers and a protester opposed to President Hugo Chavez, as police and grieving relatives split over whether the quadruple homicide was political.
According to police investigations, about twelve unidentified armed men kidnapped the four victims on Saturday night as they were leaving a protest. They were bound, gagged, and some were tortured before the gunmen executed them.
The last two bodies, badly decomposed and showing signs of torture, were found on Tuesday on the outskirts of Caracas.
The case has fueled opposition fears that Chavez may be leading the country toward armed struggle by encouraging supporters to silence dissenting voices, more than 10 months after narrowly surviving a coup led by rebel officers.
Chavez has always called his self-styled "revolution" a peaceful one.
Police attempted to soothe frayed nerves on Wednesday, saying the motive for the killings appeared to be revenge, not politics. They cited an alleged scuffle on Saturday between the slain soldiers and a fellow protester, Edgar Leonardo Machado, who has become the lead suspect in the killings.
"We're investigating," said deputy police chief Raul Yepez. "But the clear, precise motive, the strongest ... is revenge."
Family members of the victims slammed the investigations as corrupt. They accused the police of trying to avert a scandal, and said the four dead were clearly killed for their protests against the populist president.
"They want to clear themselves politically, and they say it's about revenge. My brother had no enemies. The only enemy we have here is Hugo Chavez," said Miguel, whose 21-year-old brother, air force soldier Felix Pinto, was one of the dead.
He spoke from the Plaza Altamira in the wealthy eastern part of the capital, the center stage of Venezuela's opposition protests and the last place the four victims were seen alive.
BOLIVARIAN CIRCLES
Despite occasional violence in Venezuela's political standoff, there have been no confirmed selective killings of Chavez's allies or enemies. Still, street clashes have claimed at least seven lives and left scores injured since December.
Chavez has styled his government on Cuban socialist ideals and the nationalist fervor of Venezuela's 19th century revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar.
After gaining power in 1998, he set up community networks called "Circulos Bolivarianos," or "Bolivarian Circles," which were meant to spread the word of his revolution across the city's honeycomb of poor urban sprawls.
But the opposition says Chavez's supporters take his calls to defend the revolution literally. They brand the groups "Circles of Terror," and have started their own armed "self-defense" groups to guard against attack.
The political situation, marked by daily marches by supporters and opponents of the president, is growing more tense as Chavez refuses to bend to opposition calls to hold early elections.
His term in office ends in 2007, but Chavez jokes he will stay in power for two more decades.
Police say key to solving the mystery of the recent killings will be the testimony of a 14-year-old girl, who apparently was Pinto's underage lover and was abducted along with the four victims but survived the shooting.
The girl has been hospitalized in intensive care and was unable to give investigators a formal statement, police said.
The case is mired in controversy, especially since it appears to involve a deadly Dec. 6 shooting at the Plaza Altamira, which was witnessed by two of the victims.
Zaida Perozo, a female protester whose body was found on Monday, was wounded along with 20 others in the Plaza Altamira and had been considering testifying against an alleged gunman.
Relatives of the deceased said they feared more attacks would follow on opposition leaders.
"This is like a chess game," said Pinto's brother. "First they go after the pawns and then later for top leaders."