Bodies of Venezuela dissidents show evidence of torture - Activists: Venezuela Violence Could Rise.

www.fortwayne.com Posted on Wed, Feb. 19, 2003 FABIOLA SANCHEZ Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela - The bodies of three dissident Venezuelan soldiers and an opposition activist had bullet wounds and showed signs of torture, forensic police said Wednesday.

Human rights officials warned that a continued impasse between President Hugo Chaves and the opposition demanding early elections could lead to more violence.

All four bodies were found in the suburbs of Caracas with their hands tied and their faces wrapped with tape.

Darwin Arguello, Angel Salas and Felix Pinto and opposition activist Zaida Peraza, 25, had multiple bullet wounds and showed signs of torture, Raul Yepez, the deputy director of Venezuela's forensics police, said at a press conference on Wednesday.

According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, a witness to the abductions saw the victims being forced into two vehicles by men wearing ski-masks, not far from the plaza that has become the central rallying point of the opposition. Yepez said the abduction took place on Saturday night.

"I don't think anybody should expect the violence to decrease," said Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Inter-American Dialogue think-tank in Washington. "As long as there is an impasse on both sides, if anything, the violence will increase."

Dissident soldiers supported a nationwide strike called Dec. 2 to demand Chavez's resignation or early elections. The strike was lifted Feb. 4 in all areas except the oil industry to protect businesses from bankruptcy.

Chavez's opponents, including other dissident military officers, said government sympathizers could have been responsible for the killings. But Yepez said police had "practically ruled out" political motives.

No arrests have been made in connection with the killings.

Chavez was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000. He promised to wipe out the corruption of previous governments and redistribute the country's vast oil wealth to the poor majority.

His critics charge he has mismanaged the economy, tried to grab authoritarian powers and split the country along class lines.

Opponents of Chavez said Wednesday that more than 4.4 million Venezuelans had petitioned for a constitutional amendment to cut Chavez's term in power from six to four years.

Organizers said they had counted and verified 3.7 million signatures collected in a nationwide petition drive on Feb. 2. These were added to another 719,000 signatures supporting the initiative already gathered.

Under the constitution, organizers need signatures from 15 percent, or about 1.8 million, of the country's 12 million registered voters, to force a referendum on the amendment. This would then clear the way for general elections later this year.