Blasts Hit Spanish, Colombian Missions in Venezuela
reuters.com Tue February 25, 2003 09:33 AM ET By Patrick Markey
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Two suspected bombs blasted Spanish and Colombian diplomatic buildings in Caracas on Tuesday, injuring five people less than two days after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused the two nations of meddling in his country's crisis.
Three people, including a 4-year-old girl, were slightly injured at the Colombian consulate, where shards of glass and concrete from the badly damaged facade lay scattered across the street after the blast, at around 2:15 a.m.
Fragments from the explosion at the Spanish embassy cooperation office, about 15 minutes earlier, hurt two people, officials said.
Chavez, whose self-styled "Bolivarian Revolution" promises to ease poverty, accused Spain and the United States on Sunday of siding with his enemies and warned Colombia he might break off diplomatic ties.
Police were still investigating what caused the two explosions. But an official from the DISIP state security police told local radio that a powerful plastic explosive had been placed at the Colombian consulate.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blasts, but leaflets scattered at both sites were signed by the "Bolivarian Liberation Force -- the Coordinadora Simon Bolivar urban militias." The Coordinadora Simon Bolivar is a known radical Pro-Chavez group.
"Our revolution will not be negotiated, only deepened," one leaflet read.
WRECKAGE
Officers in blue and gray fatigues picked though the wreckage at the Colombian consulate, where the blast sheared into the glass facade of the four-story building. Not far away at the Spanish embassy sub-office, the blast tore off the gate of the building and punched a hole in a wall.
"If this had not been at two in the morning and instead at two in the afternoon, we would have had a lot of dead from the impact," Chacao district mayor Leopoldo Lopez told reporters.
Venezuela's bitter political struggle between Chavez and his opponents has often flared into violence and street clashes; media outlets critical of the president have been the targets of grenade attacks.
"The national government will find those responsible for these crimes," deputy foreign minister Arevalo Mendez said.
The Venezuelan leader's criticisms of the United States, Colombia and Spain on Sunday followed their statements questioning the arrest of Carlos Fernandez, a prominent opposition businessman charged with rebellion for leading a two-month strike against Chavez.
Venezuela's crisis has drawn in the international community, with leaders fearing the world's fifth-largest oil supplier could slide deeper into violence as Chavez allies and enemies battle over his government.
The United States, Spain and four other countries have backed efforts by the Organization of American States (OAS) to broker a deal on elections to defuse the crisis. But the talks have been caught up in wrangling and Chavez on Sunday appeared to brush aside members of the six-nation group.
He warned OAS chief Cesar Gaviria, who has chaired the talks for three months, not to "step out of line." Another leaflet found at the blast sites criticized Gaviria, the OAS and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, saying the "revolution" did not need their help in the peace talks.
Chavez on Sunday also criticized Colombia after a cabinet minister in the neighboring country said the Venezuelan leader had met with left-wing rebel leaders.
STRUGGLE SINCE COUP
Chavez and his foes have been locked in a fierce political struggle over his rule since April when he survived a short-lived coup by rebel military officers. The president has hardened his stance against critics he brands "terrorists" trying to oust him by sabotaging the oil industry.
The opposition strike began on Dec. 2; it severely disrupted the vital oil exports that account for half of Venezuelan government revenues. The shutdown fizzled out in February, although the oil sector still struggles to recover.
But Chavez, elected in 1998, has so far resisted calls for an early vote for opponents. They accuse him of ruling like a dictator and inspiring supporters to violence with his fiery speeches laced with threats and class warfare rhetoric.
His self-styled "revolutionary" government mingles left-leaning policies, such as land reform and cheap credits for the poor, with nationalism styled after 19th century South American liberation hero Simon Bolivar.
Tuesday's explosions are not the first incidents involving foreign missions in Caracas. A grenade exploded in January at the residence of the ambassador from Algeria. That explosion followed bomb threats against several foreign embassies and the evacuation of the German, Canadian and Australian embassies.