<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

A bomb exploded destroying part of the Tachira State Ranchers Association (Asogata) HQ in San Cristobal. No one was hurt in the blast since it took place before 1.00 a.m. and according to police sources, there were no witnesses and little damage done. 

Asogata president, Genaro Mendez blames left-wing elements ... "they left pamphlets and fliers with slogans, such as 'Land for everyone' and 'The Revolution is the only way to success!'" 

Tachira State Governor Captain (ret.) Ronald Blanco La Cruz has condemned the attack warning that it's the wrong way to do politics.

Comparing the Asogata bomb to the more powerful semtex C4 that ripped the entrance of the Caracas Teleport building, Blanco La Cruz says an negotiated agreement has been signed with the government and if people don't like it, there are other means to express their disapproval.

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Our editorial statement reads: VHeadline.com Venezuela is a wholly independent e-publication promoting democracy in its fullest expression and the inalienable  right of all Venezuelans to self-determination and the pursuit of sovereign independence without interference. We seek to shed light on nefarious practices and the corruption which for decades has strangled this South American nation's development and progress. Our declared editorial bias is pro-democracy and pro-Venezuela ... which some may wrongly interpret as anti-American. --  Roy S. Carson, Editor/Publisher  Editor@VHeadline.com

<a href=reuters.com>Reuters.com Wed April 16, 2003 03:23 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - A bomb exploded in western Venezuela near the frontier with Colombia on Wednesday, damaging the headquarters of a local ranchers' association which had denounced cross-border activity by leftist Colombian rebels, witnesses and police said.

No one was injured in the early morning explosion which tore through the car park and the entrance of the building in San Cristobal in Tachira state, shattering windows and scattering debris.

Officials said two men were arrested in connection with the explosion.

The blast came four days after a bomb badly damaged a Caracas office building where Venezuelan government and opposition leaders have held talks to try to end their bitter feud over the rule of leftist President Hugo Chavez.

Venezuela has been shaken by political tensions and violence for more than a year as Chavez and his opponents feud over his self-styled "revolution." Opposition leaders are demanding the former paratrooper allow early elections.

Five people were injured last month when two bombs exploded at the Spanish Embassy cooperation office and the Colombian consulate building in Caracas. No-one claimed responsibility for those bomb attacks.

Ranchers and landowners in Tachira, on Venezuela's porous frontier with Colombia, complain the government has not done enough to stop leftist Colombian guerrillas and crime gangs from carrying out killings, kidnappings and extortion.

The government has denied persistent allegations by Colombian officials, and by domestic political foes, that it allows guerrillas to operate in Venezuelan territory. Caracas says Colombia is not doing its part to protect its border.

Repeated tit-for-tat accusations over frontier security have soured relations between the Andean neighbors ahead of a scheduled meeting next week between Chavez and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in Puerto Ordaz in eastern Venezuela.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 By: David Coleman

CICPC police detectives have succeeded in identifying Tairo Aristigueta as one of the alleged killers of three Plaza Altamira soldiers in a crime which opposition propagandists led by anti-government Globovision TV News had hysterically claimed had been orchestrated by President Hugo Chavez himself.

Globovision is today playing down the revelations as Aristigueta joins Gregory "El Zorro" Umanez in police custody following ID procedures conducted by 11th Control Court judge Deyanira Nieves.

Sources close to the Official Ombudsman's Office are now claiming that there are clear links with criminals behind last week's bombing at the Caracas Teleport building and the bombings at the Colombian Consulate and Spanish Embassy last month ... which Globovision and the opposition had been over-hasty to blame on the government as well!

CICPC national investigations commissioner Carlos Medina insists that the Teleport explosion was the work of anti-government opposition radicals and says that traces of Semtex C4 explosives found at the scene of last weekend's bombing and at the scenes of the diplomatic mission bombings are from the same source.

National Ammunition & Explosives (CAVIM) experts are "well-advanced" in tracking down the origin of the explosives and Medina insists that a series of arrests are expected shortly.  "We already have names and locations of those who were involved but I would prefer to wait for court arrest warrants before we give further information."

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Our editorial statement reads: VHeadline.com Venezuela is a wholly independent e-publication promoting democracy in its fullest expression and the inalienable  right of all Venezuelans to self-determination and the pursuit of sovereign independence without interference. We seek to shed light on nefarious practices and the corruption which for decades has strangled this South American nation's development and progress. Our declared editorial bias is pro-democracy and pro-Venezuela ... which some may wrongly interpret as anti-American. --  Roy S. Carson, Editor/Publisher  Editor@VHeadline.com

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Tuesday, April 15, 2003 By: David Coleman

Police detectives are claiming that the explosive used in the Caracas Teleport building bombing is the same Semtex used in the bombings at the Colombian consulate and the Spanish embassy last month ... and in a fresh twist, the lone detainee, Rolando Duin, is described as having both Venezuelan and Colombian ID cards.

Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez says that there are certain coincidences which are currently under investigation.  Duin is under police custody but authorities say he is not a suspect, a witness not is he a victim to the incident.

PoliChacao commissioner Leonardo Diaz Paruta says that on March 29, Duin requested police protection claiming political persecution ... he told police officers he had been brought to Venezuela by as yet unnamed elements to place explosive devices at specific points in the Caracas Metropolitan area but had changed his mind and sought police protection for his own safety.

Duin had been transferred to the Victims Protection Unit of the Official Ombudsman's Office on April 1, and was to have been transferred to the custody of the Baruta municipal police, but was finally transferred to PoliSucre police custody after Baruta authorities claimed they did not have sufficient resources to guarantee his security.

VHeadline.com sources insist that government intelligence agencies have traced the intellectual authors to the Teleport bombing to a radical opposition grouping linked to rebel military officers who took part in the April 11 coup d'etat against President Hugo Chavez Frias ... "Military Intelligence (DIM) and State Security (DISIP) police have already linked the bombing to the incidents last month at the Colombian consulate and the Spanish embassy."

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Venezuela's Opposition What is it? Is a force to be reckoned with or in complete disarray?

Our editorial statement reads: VHeadline.com Venezuela is a wholly independent e-publication promoting democracy in its fullest expression and the inalienable  right of all Venezuelans to self-determination and the pursuit of sovereign independence without interference. We seek to shed light on nefarious practices and the corruption which for decades has strangled this South American nation's development and progress. Our declared editorial bias is pro-democracy and pro-Venezuela ... which some may wrongly interpret as anti-American. --  Roy S. Carson, Editor/Publisher  Editor@VHeadline.com    © 2003 VHeadline.com All Rights Reserved.  Privacy Policy Website Design, hosting and administration by: Integradesign.ca 

<a href=www.voanews.com>VOA News 14 Apr 2003, 22:37 UTC

The State Department is urging Venezuelan authorities to probe the bombing of a Caracas office building where negotiators had agreed to work toward a referendum on President Hugo Chavez's rule.

State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said Monday that Washington condemns Saturday's attack by those who seek to undermine what he termed a "significant accord." Mr. Reeker also called on Venezuelan authorities to bring those responsible for the attack to justice.

The blast happened at the Caracas Teleport building one day after Venezuelan government and opposition negotiators reached their deal during talks sponsored by the Organization of American States. The parties agreed that the vote would take place after August 19th, the midpoint of Mr. Chavez's six-year term.

Venezuela's opposition has been pushing for the president's removal. They say he is leading Venezuela toward economic ruin and trying to model the country on communist-run Cuba.

In April of last year, Mr. Chavez was briefly ousted in an unsuccessful coup.

In December, the opposition began a failed nationwide general strike to force the president to resign and call early elections. The two-month labor action was felt most severely in Venezuela's key oil industry.