Chavez foe leads massive march in Venezuela

[Judi Lynn]

62. Whoever said the paramilitaries were 18 years old? Some of them were former Colombian soldiers.

It's so perplexing you pull ideas like that from outta somewhere, but it doesn't connect to anything I've ever heard.


The Venezuelan elite imports soldiers
by Marta Harnecker
May 23, 2004

If anything has become clear following the discovery of an incursion of a significantly large paramilitary group into the country, it is that the 'anti-Bolivarian and anti-Venezuelan oligarchy and its masters in the north' have not been able to recruit Venezuelan soldiers for their subversive objectives and 'have been forced to recruit them in another country,' as expressed President Chavez in front of tens of thousands of people, who gathered in Caracas this past Sunday, May 16th, to demonstrate their rejection of paramilitary activity and to express their support for peace.
(snip)

A week earlier, on the 9th of May, on the outskirts of Caracas, a paramilitary force was discovered, dressed in field uniforms. Later, more were found, raising the total to 130, leaving open the possibility that there are still more in the country. The three Colombian paramilitary leaders of the group are members of the Autonomous Self-Defense Forces (AUC) in Northern Santander state in Colombia.

Some of the captured Colombian fighters have a long history as members of paramilitary forces. Others are reservists of the Colombian army and yet others were specifically recruited for the task in Venezuela and were surely tricked. Among these there are several who are minors.

A colonel of the Venezuelan air force was also detained, as well as seven officers of the National Guard. Among those implicated in the plot is a group of civilians headed by the Cuban Roberto Alonso, creator of the 'guarimbas,'<1> and Gustavo Quintero Machado, a Venezuelan, both who are currently wanted by the Venezuelan justice system.
(snip/...)

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=5579


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VENEZUELA: 130 detained in paramilitary plot
Wednesday, November 17, 1993 - 11:00

CARACAS — According to Venezuelan vice-president Jose Vicente Rangel, 130 individuals have been detained after a group of 70 Colombian paramilitary on May 9. Several dozen people have been presented before military judges, including 13 men captured last Thursday.

The paramilitary group was concentrated at a farm belonging to opposition activist Robert Alonso in the outskirts of Caracas. According to testimonies by some of the detainees, the paramilitary group was training in preparation for attacks on Venezuelan military bases and for a coup d'etat against the government of President Hugo Chavez.

While oppositionist Robert Alonso is being sought by authorities, retired army general Uson Ramirez was detained yesterday morning. Ramirez is thought to have provided help to the paramilitary group. The general was part of a group of high ranking officers who rebelled against the Chavez government during the coup d'etat in April 2002. Seven military officers have been detained in connection with the paramilitaries.

~snip~
Even though Venezuela has signed all international anti-terrorism treaties, no anti-terror law exists in the country. A draft for a local anti-terrorism law was introduced last year by the executive for discussion and approval at the National Assembly. Lawmakers from political parties that support the government have accused the opposition of blocking the discussion, as several opposition activists have been charged with crimes that might be classified as terrorism, including the bombing of the Colombian Consulate and Spanish Embassy offices in Caracas last year.

More:
http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/29940

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War on Hugo Chávez
An outlaw and former spook takes on the Venezuelan dictator
By Janine Zeitlin
Published on October 10, 2007 at 10:41am

~snip~
Robert dubs the plan that caused him to flee his homeland La Guarimba, and says it's nonviolent. But the last time he made his pitch for revolt — in 2004 — at least 13 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in clashes. "If you don't follow the instructions, it's not my fault.... When you commit yourself to something, you have to quemar los barcos, burn the ships. There's no way out," says the 57-year-old with a shock of white hair and an ample belly. "We're at war"

~snip~
At some point in April 2004, he met with other activists calling themselves the "Brigade Daktari." (A Venezuelan flag hangs on his home office wall with about 50 signatures from this mysterious meeting.) Then he left for Colombia. Carrying a GPS, Alonso says, he navigated the jungle between the two countries and then hopped a bus to Bogotá. He took a plane to Miami in late April ...

Alonso looks like a retiree who stopped by for an afternoon cafecito. He's wearing blue sweatpants, tan sandals, and a turquoise T-shirt. Clamor from the espresso machine and blenders fills the room as a man in a button-down shirt carrying a briefcase strides through the bakery doors and beelines for the table. He silently drops a manila folder before Alonso.

The mystery man is Marlon Gutiérrez, a 45-year-old former Nicaraguan Contra. Alonso takes some papers from the folder and looks them over. They are bylaws for their new group, Fundación Interamericana por la Democracia, which will organize Guarimba resistance movements in Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela ...

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2007-10-11/news/war-on-hugo-ch-aacute-vez/
Also posted: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/struggle4progress/60

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Colombian paramilitary barracks on Alonso's ranch

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Published on Monday, May 17,
by the Agence France Presse
Thousands Protest Colombian Paramilitary Presence in Venezuela
Chavez to Set up 'People's Militia'

President Hugo Chavez announced his government would establish "people's militias" to counter what he called foreign interference after an alleged coup plot by Colombian paramilitaries Caracas claims was financed by Washington.

Chavez also said he would boost the strength of Venezuela's armed forces as part of a new "anti-imperialist" phase for his government.

"Each and every Venezuelan man and woman must consider themselves a soldier," said Chavez.

"Let the organization of a popular and military orientation begin from today."

The president's announcement came a week after authorities arrested 88 people described as Colombian paramilitaries holed up on property belonging to a key opposition figure.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0517-04.htm

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12.30pm update
Colombian paramilitaries arrested in Venezuela
Jeremy Lennard and agencies
Monday May 10, 2004

Venezuelan police have arrested more than 70 Colombian paramilitary fighters who were allegedly plotting to strike against the government in Caracas, according to the country's president, Hugo Chávez.
Opposition leaders, however, were quick to dismiss the president's claim, calling the raids on a farm less than 10 miles from the capital a ruse to divert attention from their efforts to oust Mr Chávez in a recall vote.

During his weekly radio and TV broadcast, Hello Mr President, Mr Chávez said that 53 paramilitary fighters were arrested at the farm early on Sunday and another 24 were picked up after fleeing into the countryside.
The country's security forces were uncovering additional clues and searching for more suspects, he said, adding that the arrests were proof of a conspiracy against his government involving Cuban and Venezuelan exiles in Florida and neighbouring Colombia.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/may/10/venezuela.jeremylennard