Peru Grants Asylum to Two Venezuelan Army Officers

<a href=www.voanews.com>VOA News 27 Apr 2003, 18:03 UTC

Peru has granted asylum to two Venezuelan army officers who fear reprisals for their opposition to President Hugo Chavez's government. The men, Wismerck Martinez Medina and Gilberto Landaeta Vielma, took refuge in the Peruvian embassy in the capital Caracas last week.

Peru's Ministry of Foreign Relations issued a statement Sunday, saying the two retired officers would travel to Peru as soon as Venezuela approves the move.

The men have been accused of participating in a massive protest against Mr. Chavez in October.

Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic is studying an asylum request from two other army captains who took refuge in the country's embassy last week.

The attorney representing brothers Ricardo and Alfredo Salazar says the men have received death threats for their alleged role in a failed coup against President Chavez last April.

The four officers are the latest Chavez opponents to seek asylum.

In March, Venezuelan labor leader Carlos Ortega went into exile in Costa Rica to avoid prosecution for treason for organizing a two-month strike that failed to oust President Chavez.

The president's opponents accuse him of driving the world's fifth-largest oil exporter into economic ruin and trying to model the country after communist-run Cuba. Mr. Chavez says his enemies seek to undermine his self-styled revolution.