Carlos Fernandez  is not a political prisoner ... he is a criminal

www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, February 28, 2003 By: Oscar Heck

VHeadline.com commentarist Oscar Heck writes: I have been thinking about the recent bombings in Caracas ... the bombings of the Spanish and Colombian embassies/consulates.

Kira Marquez's observations and comments, in her recent letter to Vheadline.com: "AD and Copei have used terror tactics each time they've needed them throughout Venezuela's history " are quite interesting, and probably close to reality.

My questions are:

1. Why were the Spanish and Colombian embassies/consulates bombed (2 of the countries that appear to support the opposition) and not the USA embassy?  If the supposed "terrorists" were bent of "punishing" anti-Chavez embassies, the main target would have been the US embassy (the US is an obvious supporter of the opposition). This brings up another question. Who may have been involved in the bombings?

2. Why were there no deaths, serious injuries or massive destruction? (I was at the Colombian bombing site yesterday). It appears to me that "terrorists" seeking real "impact" would not think twice about making sure that the bombs caused serious damage ... especially if it were true that Chavez and company are affiliated with Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Khadaffi (as the opposition so intently believes).

3. Why is the media and opposition so quick to find "evidence" linking the bombings to radical pro-Chavez groups? Planting information is a very easy task. Furthermore, where is the hurry to "blame" someone. How long did it take to find the person who bombed the buildings in Oklahoma city? Other embassies throughout the world?

Changing subjects, yesterday, I saw Carlos Fernandez speaking on television ... he said that he has never done anything illegal or criminal (referring to the charges against him), and that he is simply a political prisoner. I believe he made that statement in public to prepare the ground for his "escape" from Venezuela to a country (such as Spain) that will give him refuge.

If Fernandez manages to convince countries outside Venezuela that he is truly a political prisoner, then he can easily justify his escape from the Venezuelan justice!

• By the way, Carlos Fernandez  is not a political prisoner ... he is a criminal, who has committed treason and has incited people to lawlessness.

On another note, the opposition is continuously lamenting their economic situation. Yesterday, I was driving around some of the "richer" areas of Caracas (opposition territory): Country Club, Chacao, La Castellana, Altamira, Las Mercedes, etc. Every restaurant had tens of cars parked in front, and these are not cheap restaurants.  Shopping centers were full of people buying.

Another interesting subject: On Globovision recently, a representative from "Petroleum People" (one of the major PDVSA union groups headed by Juan Fernandez) was asked "how has the firing of the many PDVSA employees affected their families?"  I was surprised by her response, which was something to this effect "...well, it has affected them very negatively ... many of the people who have been fired have been living in homes owned by PDVSA ... and now that they're fired, PDVSA naturally wants to have them move out."

Oscar Heck oscarheck111@hotmail.com