[News] Street Violence Enters “Second Stage” According to Venezuelan Army Chief

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  Street Violence Enters “Second Stage” According to Venezuelan Army Chief

By Tamara Pearson

http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/10638

Merida, 23rd April 2014 (Venezuelanalysis.com) –Military chief Vladimir 
Padrino said yesterday that the violent street blockades which began in 
February have moved on to a “second phase” characterised by “selective 
attacks and terrorist cells”.

“They are continuing the selective attacks on public transport units,” 
he said.

Padrino argued that the “first stage... in the continuous coup d’état” 
was the barricades, and also calls to high ranking military personal to 
organise the removal of President Maduro. Three air force generals were 
arrested at the end of March for allegedly planning a coup.

Rightwing Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional also reported yesterday that 
opposition supporters met in the Catholic University Andres Bello to 
announce a “second stage of protests” which would start this Saturday 26 
April with a march. The supporters are part of a minority of the 
opposition which is still refusing to participate in the dialogue with 
the national government.

Participants in the meeting claiming to be students, wore maroon 
t-shirts with phrases such as “reconcile the country” and “recover 
democracy”. Carlos Vargas, secretary of external affairs at the 
university asked that the university be “revived”, and called for 
“lightening”, or spontaneous and “creative” protests to not be abandoned.

Further, a pro-government student leader of the Central University of 
Venezuela (UCV), Alejandro Padron, told the national public youth radio 
(RNV-Juvenil) yesterday that the Venezuelan opposition was planning to 
“intensify” its actions in coming days.

The student said the opposition sectors were planning to consolidate 
their plan of “198 steps to overthrow the government of Nicolas Maduro”. 
Padron argued that the plan is based on Gene Sharp’s text, which details 
how to overthrow democratic governments through destabilisation and 
media manipulation, “using the youth as cannon fodder”.

Padron described three types of actions he believes the opposition 
violent sectors are planning: “firstly... a plan of selective killings, 
which aims to kill students, well known sports people, and youth who are 
dedicated to the arts... in order to create a climate of anxiety in the 
population. It will be carried out by paramilitaries who are in various 
zones of Caracas, especially Sucre municipality, governed by the 
opposition”.

He said the second step involved supporting the “shock troops” of the 
private and autonomous universities, using “so called students who are 
really political cadre of [political parties and organisations] First 
Justice, Javu, Red Flag, Popular Will, and Democratic Action – paid by 
their parties to pretend to be students”.

“They are aiming to infiltrate the [government supported] open studies 
programs and the UNEFA, UBV, UNEARTE, and others,” Padron claimed.

Padron said that the third step involves the Popular Will party “buying 
people off to involve them in the violent plan”.

“There are already cells spread out in various parts of the country. In 
Caracas they are divided up into blocs, for example, the Resistance Bloc 
South-East Caracas, among others. However, they haven’t been able to 
penetrate the west [of Caracas], but they trust the UCV for that... its 
autonomy allows it to conduct various actions, with the complicity of 
the authorities,” Padron said.

*More **A**rrests*

A United States citizen was arrested yesterday afternoon by Venezuelan 
authorities in Tachira state. Todd Michael Leininger from Florida was 
allegedly detained with illegal long and short weapons, eight camouflage 
uniforms, silencers, and ammunition.

A Tachira court imposed a custodial sentence on Leininger for allegedly 
dealing in arms, criminal association, and foiled (attempted) homicide.

According to Tachira governor, Jose Vielma, Leininger was supporting the 
blockades. He told the press that Leininger’s phone had photos of 
himself and his Venezuelan wife participating in the blockades. He said 
that Interpol Venezuela was in contact with the US’s NCA (National 
Command Authority) to exchange information about the arrested man, who 
he claimed is sought internationally for committing crimes in the US as 
well.

Minister for justice, Miguel Torres also announced yesterday morning 
that nine people involved in violence in Chacao, Caracas, were also 
arrested. Torres said authorities had raided ten houses of people 
supposedly involved in the violence, three of those houses in Chacao and 
the rest in other areas, and nine people were arrested. He said there 
would be a further 15 raids in order to “end with terrorist actions in 
Chacao”.

Allegedly, one of the people arrested yesterday was in charge of paying 
the barricaders Bs 5000 per week, according to Torres. He said the man 
“will have to say who supplied him the money to pay these violent groups”.

Two people were also arrested after a cement mixing truck was set alight 
in Valencia on Monday afternoon. According to Padrino, “terrorists in 
balaclavas” set it ablaze. Aporrea reported that witnesses said the 
violent groups also set up barricades near the truck to stop traffic flow.

Today the national government handed out new buses, made in China, to 
eight drivers in Merida and Tachira states who lost their means of 
earning a living when violent groups set their buses on fire.

Merida based community television, Tatuy TV, reported today that a 
policeman and a taxi driver had been attacked “by the rightwing 
yesterday” and injured by gun shots in Avenue Las Americas when 
authorities and communities tried to clear barricades. Also, a balaclava 
wearing youth was also injured and taken to hospital after he mishandled 
a homemade grenade launcher or mortar.

Venezuelan foreign minister Elias Jaua announced today that he had made 
a formal complaint to the UN Organisation for Education, Science, and 
Culture (UNESCO) about violence by some groups in Venezuela.

“We’ve just come from the headquarters of Unesco, we’ve just finished a 
meeting with the director general (Irina Bokova), and we’ve shown the 
whole situation that the Venezuelan people are experiencing... facing an 
anti-democratic, violent, and armed current which has harmed fundamental 
rights like education and communication,” Jaua told public television 
station VTV.

“We’ve denounced the attitude of elected authorities who, having 
constitutional commitments and obligations in terms of protecting human 
rights, have acted in a contrary manner, promoting violence, as is the 
case with the [former] mayor of San Cristobal (Daniel Ceballos), the 
mayor of San Diego (Enzo Scarano) and others, or by omitting to fulfil 
their role of guaranteeing life and rights... such as is the case of the 
governor of Miranda state, Henrique Capriles, the mayor of Chacao, Ramon 
Muchacho, the mayor of Baruta, Gerardo Blyde, and the mayor of El 
Hatillo, David Smolansky,” Jaua stated.

Jaua clarified that the government wasn’t requesting international 
intervention, “we’re just making a record of” the actions of local 
authorities.

He said the government would also be denouncing environmental damage, 
such as cutting down trees, and attacks on the food distribution system 
to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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