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Mayor of Venezuelan city arrested amid protests
Source: AP
Agents of Venezuela's domestic intelligence service on Wednesday arrested the opposition mayor of a western city that has been a crucible of anti-government resistance and which spawned the current wave of protests.
San Cristobal Mayor Daniel Ceballos, who a top aide said was arrested in a Caracas hotel, became the second opposition leader jailed by Venezuela's socialist-led government since the unrest began last month. Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez is being held on charges of arson and conspiracy.
Ceballos, who was in Caracas for a meeting of opposition mayors, had been outspoken in his criticism of what he called repression by security forces in his city. His aide, Ronni Pavolini, said agents from the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, known by its Spanish initials SEBIN, arrested Ceballos.
"They took him out of the hotel in Caracas and took him to Helicoide (SEBIN headquarters)," Pavolini told The Associated Press.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/mayor-venezuelan-city-arrested-amid-protests-011808934.html
17 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
President Maduro = Governor Christie.
Mayor of San Cristobal = Mayor of Hoboken.
Because Christie sure would arrest anyone that crossed him.
Imagine him as POTUS.
There are still plenty of authoritarian swooners of the real kind, not those some call Obama fans.
They LOVE Chris Christie for being a 'strong man.'
But they call Obama 'weak.'
But really, I'm being unfair to Maduro. He's just using the tools he's been given.
We better make sure Christie doesn't get his hands on the federal government tool box.
Just sayin'
Mayor of San Cristobal = Mayor of Hoboken.
Because Christie sure would arrest anyone that crossed him.
Imagine him as POTUS.
There are still plenty of authoritarian swooners of the real kind, not those some call Obama fans.
They LOVE Chris Christie for being a 'strong man.'
But they call Obama 'weak.'
But really, I'm being unfair to Maduro. He's just using the tools he's been given.
We better make sure Christie doesn't get his hands on the federal government tool box.
Just sayin'
BTW, I'm not your mother. I'll post this information for you, but this will be the last time. I strongly suggest learning how to use a search engine to get background and information on subjects you are ignorant of, if indeed you are interested in having informed opinions about the world. www.google.com is an easy place to begin, you can even learn to post linked sources of information on DU once you learn to use a search engine. That way, you will no longer have to rely on others to provide information for you.
Good luck!
VENEZUELA - COLOMBIA: Paramilitaries Rule Border Area
SAN ANTONIO DEL TÁCHIRA, Venezuela, Dec 20 2009 (IPS) - “We’re second-class citizens, victims of a war that hasn’t broken out,” said José Duque from behind the wheel of a car carrying passengers from San Cristóbal, in southwestern Venezuela, to the border with the northeastern region of Colombia, near the city of Cúcuta.
snip---
A community leader from the city of San Antonio del Táchira, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Carlos, told IPS that Colombian “mafias” like the Black Eagles, made up of former members of far-right paramilitary groups in Colombia, “have controlled the smuggling of gasoline, food and plastic products from Venezuela to Colombia for years, and also the smuggling of goods from there to here.”
snip---
“Here, almost everyone pays a ‘tax’ to the paramilitary mafias. This bakery where we’re having a coffee pays one for sure, the ice cream place across the street too, the same as all the stores on this block,” said Roberto, another local resident and member of a political party that backs Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
One of the town’s main streets runs directly onto the Simón Bolívar bridge, which connects Venezuela and Colombia across the Táchira River (reduced to a trickle during the current dry season). The narrow bridge carries an endless flow of cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians between the two countries, as border guards on both sides look on with apparent indifference.
http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/12/venezuela-colombia-paramilitaries-rule-border-area/
SAN ANTONIO DEL TÁCHIRA, Venezuela, Dec 20 2009 (IPS) - “We’re second-class citizens, victims of a war that hasn’t broken out,” said José Duque from behind the wheel of a car carrying passengers from San Cristóbal, in southwestern Venezuela, to the border with the northeastern region of Colombia, near the city of Cúcuta.
snip---
A community leader from the city of San Antonio del Táchira, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Carlos, told IPS that Colombian “mafias” like the Black Eagles, made up of former members of far-right paramilitary groups in Colombia, “have controlled the smuggling of gasoline, food and plastic products from Venezuela to Colombia for years, and also the smuggling of goods from there to here.”
snip---
“Here, almost everyone pays a ‘tax’ to the paramilitary mafias. This bakery where we’re having a coffee pays one for sure, the ice cream place across the street too, the same as all the stores on this block,” said Roberto, another local resident and member of a political party that backs Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.
One of the town’s main streets runs directly onto the Simón Bolívar bridge, which connects Venezuela and Colombia across the Táchira River (reduced to a trickle during the current dry season). The narrow bridge carries an endless flow of cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians between the two countries, as border guards on both sides look on with apparent indifference.
http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/12/venezuela-colombia-paramilitaries-rule-border-area/
RW paramilitary groups in Colombia
Right-wing paramilitary groups in Colombia are the parties responsible for most of the human rights violations in the latter half of the ongoing Colombian Armed Conflict. According to several international human rights and governmental organizations, right-wing paramilitary groups have been responsible for at least 70 to 80% of political murders in Colombia per year, with the remainder committed by leftist guerrillas and government forces. Paramilitary groups control the large majority of the illegal drug trade of cocaine and other substances together with the main Colombian drug cartels, especially in terms of trafficking and processing activities. The first paramilitary groups were organized by the Colombian military following recommendations made by U.S. military counterinsurgency advisers who were sent to Colombia during the Cold War to combat leftist political activists and armed guerrilla groups. The development of later paramilitary groups has also involved elite landowners, drug traffickers, members of the security forces, politicians and multinational corporations. Paramilitary violence today is principally targeted towards peasants, unionists, indigenous people, human rights workers, teachers and left-wing political activists or their supporters. The paramilitaries claim to be acting in opposition to revolutionary Marxist-Leninist guerrilla forces and their allies among the civilian population.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramilitarism_in_Colombia
Right-wing paramilitary groups in Colombia are the parties responsible for most of the human rights violations in the latter half of the ongoing Colombian Armed Conflict. According to several international human rights and governmental organizations, right-wing paramilitary groups have been responsible for at least 70 to 80% of political murders in Colombia per year, with the remainder committed by leftist guerrillas and government forces. Paramilitary groups control the large majority of the illegal drug trade of cocaine and other substances together with the main Colombian drug cartels, especially in terms of trafficking and processing activities. The first paramilitary groups were organized by the Colombian military following recommendations made by U.S. military counterinsurgency advisers who were sent to Colombia during the Cold War to combat leftist political activists and armed guerrilla groups. The development of later paramilitary groups has also involved elite landowners, drug traffickers, members of the security forces, politicians and multinational corporations. Paramilitary violence today is principally targeted towards peasants, unionists, indigenous people, human rights workers, teachers and left-wing political activists or their supporters. The paramilitaries claim to be acting in opposition to revolutionary Marxist-Leninist guerrilla forces and their allies among the civilian population.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramilitarism_in_Colombia
The unrest has been particularly high in Tachira state, on Venezuela's western border with Colombia, where anti-government protesters have clashed with police and National Guard units, disrupting life in its capital, San Cristobal.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/venezuela-sends-paratroopers-to-site-of-unrest-1.2545816
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/venezuela-sends-paratroopers-to-site-of-unrest-1.2545816
BACRIM in Venezuela
Various remnants of the Colombian paramilitary group the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) are present in Venezuela, using the country to run trafficking operations, process cocaine, and stash drugs and arms. It also serves as a hideout for their leaders, many of whom have been arrested in Venezuela in recent years.
The presence of these paramilitary descendants, which the Colombian government calls "criminal bands" (bandas criminales - BACRIM), has been blamed for a rise in violence. The Venezuelan authorities complain that they are destabilizing the country and are carrying out kidnapping, extortion and drug trafficking in border states like Tachira, Apure, and Zulia.
The AUC was an alliance between dozens of self-defense groups that trafficked drugs, terrorized civilians, and waged war with the Colombian rebel groups the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN). Despite their right-wing ideology, the AUC originally praised the election of Hugh Chavez in 1998, sending him a congratulatory letter which stated that "as a military man" Chavez would likely "put things in order" in Venezuela. However, the AUC's rhetoric would soon change completely, and they publicly labeled the Venezuelan president a "defender" of Colombian guerrilla groups.
But the Rastrojos' influence in Venezuela has been in decline as they have lost much of their leadership to captures and arrests, as well as lost ground in their war with Colombia's other main criminal group , the Urabeños. The two groups have clashed in a bid for control of the border state of Tachira for the past few years. Since 2013, however, there have been signs that the Urabeños have been taking control there and in the neighboring Colombian city of Cucuta, giving them access to a primary route for smuggling not only drugs but other contraband, including gasoline.
Various remnants of the Colombian paramilitary group the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) are present in Venezuela, using the country to run trafficking operations, process cocaine, and stash drugs and arms. It also serves as a hideout for their leaders, many of whom have been arrested in Venezuela in recent years.
The presence of these paramilitary descendants, which the Colombian government calls "criminal bands" (bandas criminales - BACRIM), has been blamed for a rise in violence. The Venezuelan authorities complain that they are destabilizing the country and are carrying out kidnapping, extortion and drug trafficking in border states like Tachira, Apure, and Zulia.
The AUC was an alliance between dozens of self-defense groups that trafficked drugs, terrorized civilians, and waged war with the Colombian rebel groups the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN). Despite their right-wing ideology, the AUC originally praised the election of Hugh Chavez in 1998, sending him a congratulatory letter which stated that "as a military man" Chavez would likely "put things in order" in Venezuela. However, the AUC's rhetoric would soon change completely, and they publicly labeled the Venezuelan president a "defender" of Colombian guerrilla groups.
But the Rastrojos' influence in Venezuela has been in decline as they have lost much of their leadership to captures and arrests, as well as lost ground in their war with Colombia's other main criminal group , the Urabeños. The two groups have clashed in a bid for control of the border state of Tachira for the past few years. Since 2013, however, there have been signs that the Urabeños have been taking control there and in the neighboring Colombian city of Cucuta, giving them access to a primary route for smuggling not only drugs but other contraband, including gasoline.
10 June 2013
Venezuela arrests Colombians over Maduro assassination plot
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22850494
The Venezuelan government says it has arrested nine Colombian right-wing paramilitaries who were plotting to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.
---snip
Mr Maduro on Sunday posted a message on Twitter saying his government faced "a plot the fascist right supported by violent groups in Colombia".
---snip
The first group, with alleged links to the Rastrojos paramilitary organisation, was arrested in western Tachira state, Mr Rodriguez said.
The six people arrested were named as Elisa Cruz, Pedro Araujo, Arlington Miranda, Jose Israel Echavez, Javier Rodriguez and Giovani Sala.
Venezuela arrests Colombians over Maduro assassination plot
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22850494
The Venezuelan government says it has arrested nine Colombian right-wing paramilitaries who were plotting to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.
---snip
Mr Maduro on Sunday posted a message on Twitter saying his government faced "a plot the fascist right supported by violent groups in Colombia".
---snip
The first group, with alleged links to the Rastrojos paramilitary organisation, was arrested in western Tachira state, Mr Rodriguez said.
The six people arrested were named as Elisa Cruz, Pedro Araujo, Arlington Miranda, Jose Israel Echavez, Javier Rodriguez and Giovani Sala.
Birthplace of Venezuelan insurrection under siege
Though only around 400 miles from Caracas, the area of Tachira has long been a hotbed of opposition support in large part because of its much closer ties to neighboring Colombia. Maduro suggested that the city was under siege by right-wing paramilitaries who were receiving orders from former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, a longtime foe of the socialist government here.
"There's a rebellious way of thinking here, opposed to everything that happens in Caracas," said local historian Luis Hernández Contreras. Táchira was only one of two states in Venezuela won by Capriles in his October 2012 election against Chávez.
The economic problems that plague Venezuela have hit this border city hardest, as Colombians jump across and buy up price-controlled goods that are already in short supply, to sell for profit back home.
Though only around 400 miles from Caracas, the area of Tachira has long been a hotbed of opposition support in large part because of its much closer ties to neighboring Colombia. Maduro suggested that the city was under siege by right-wing paramilitaries who were receiving orders from former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, a longtime foe of the socialist government here.
"There's a rebellious way of thinking here, opposed to everything that happens in Caracas," said local historian Luis Hernández Contreras. Táchira was only one of two states in Venezuela won by Capriles in his October 2012 election against Chávez.
The economic problems that plague Venezuela have hit this border city hardest, as Colombians jump across and buy up price-controlled goods that are already in short supply, to sell for profit back home.
On Thursday the minister of interior affairs, Miguel Rodriguez Torres, announced that two army battalions would enter Táchira state to help re-establish order there.
The first unit, a parachute battalion, will be placed on the main highways into the city, but will not enter the city itself. “It’s to reinforce the [existing] units…because we’ve detected Colombians that come to undertake missions as armed paramilitaries in the street riots,” the minister said to press.
Meanwhile the National Bolivarian Guard (GNB) will be used to re-establish order in the city, and thereafter in neighbouring municipalities. The second battalion, of army engineers, will then enter the city to clean it of the burned rubbish, tires, and other damages left by the street barricades. Carrying arms in the state is temporarily banned.
Rodriguez Torres accused San Cristobal’s mayor, Daniel Ceballos, of conspiring in the unrest. The minister said there was evidence that Ceballos had paid for paramilitaries and criminal gangs to get involved in the disorder. President Maduro said on Thursday that police forces must investigate the case, “and if he [Ceballos] should be jailed, he will be jailed”.
http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/10386
The first unit, a parachute battalion, will be placed on the main highways into the city, but will not enter the city itself. “It’s to reinforce the [existing] units…because we’ve detected Colombians that come to undertake missions as armed paramilitaries in the street riots,” the minister said to press.
Meanwhile the National Bolivarian Guard (GNB) will be used to re-establish order in the city, and thereafter in neighbouring municipalities. The second battalion, of army engineers, will then enter the city to clean it of the burned rubbish, tires, and other damages left by the street barricades. Carrying arms in the state is temporarily banned.
Rodriguez Torres accused San Cristobal’s mayor, Daniel Ceballos, of conspiring in the unrest. The minister said there was evidence that Ceballos had paid for paramilitaries and criminal gangs to get involved in the disorder. President Maduro said on Thursday that police forces must investigate the case, “and if he [Ceballos] should be jailed, he will be jailed”.
http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/10386
Colombia should compensate Venezuela for refugees: Labor leader
Sep 2, 2010
Venezuelan labor leader Jose Rozo Lizcano calls for Colombia to pay compensation for the large number of refugees that pour over the border into Venezuela.
Lizcano, who is the head of Venezuelan Federation of Trade and Industry Chambers (Fedecamaras) in border state Tachira, says that the immigrants place a social and economic burden on the government. He warned that situations with many displaced people can become breeding grounds for drug and people trafficking, prostitution, smuggling, and other crimes.
Speaking at a conference in Tachira, the labor leader said that “this social burden cannot continue to be put only on the Venezuelan state, there must be a sacrifice and a joint contribution by Colombia, along with the United Nations and international organizations.”
snip---
Many thousands more have fled to Ecuador or Venezuela to escape the country’s armed conflict. More than 180,000 Colombians have arrived in the country since 2002, according to UNHCR.
Sep 2, 2010
Venezuelan labor leader Jose Rozo Lizcano calls for Colombia to pay compensation for the large number of refugees that pour over the border into Venezuela.
Lizcano, who is the head of Venezuelan Federation of Trade and Industry Chambers (Fedecamaras) in border state Tachira, says that the immigrants place a social and economic burden on the government. He warned that situations with many displaced people can become breeding grounds for drug and people trafficking, prostitution, smuggling, and other crimes.
Speaking at a conference in Tachira, the labor leader said that “this social burden cannot continue to be put only on the Venezuelan state, there must be a sacrifice and a joint contribution by Colombia, along with the United Nations and international organizations.”
snip---
Many thousands more have fled to Ecuador or Venezuela to escape the country’s armed conflict. More than 180,000 Colombians have arrived in the country since 2002, according to UNHCR.
Venezuela to protect Colombian refugees
On July 22, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez severed diplomatic ties with Colombia, which shares a 2,120-km border with Venezuela, after Bogota accused Caracas of harboring Colombian guerilla chiefs on its soil, a charge vehemently denied by Venezuela.
Some 350 Colombian citizens enter Venezuela every day to escape Colombia's guerillas, paramilitary activities, terrorism and drug trafficking, according to the Association of Colombians in Venezuela.
Over four million Colombians living in Venezuela have the same rights to "food, health, education, and living in peace" as Venezuelan citizens, Finol told the state-owned news agency Agencia Venezolana de Noticias.
On Thursday, Venezuelan Trade Minister Richard Canan and Food Minister Carolos Osorio said the government will guarantee the food supplies in the states bordering Colombia, including Tachira, Zulia and Apure states.
On July 22, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez severed diplomatic ties with Colombia, which shares a 2,120-km border with Venezuela, after Bogota accused Caracas of harboring Colombian guerilla chiefs on its soil, a charge vehemently denied by Venezuela.
Some 350 Colombian citizens enter Venezuela every day to escape Colombia's guerillas, paramilitary activities, terrorism and drug trafficking, according to the Association of Colombians in Venezuela.
Over four million Colombians living in Venezuela have the same rights to "food, health, education, and living in peace" as Venezuelan citizens, Finol told the state-owned news agency Agencia Venezolana de Noticias.
On Thursday, Venezuelan Trade Minister Richard Canan and Food Minister Carolos Osorio said the government will guarantee the food supplies in the states bordering Colombia, including Tachira, Zulia and Apure states.
Paramilitaries infiltrated across the border from Colombia have murdered 1700 people in the south-western region of Venezuela over the past two years, according to Luis Tascon, the May 5 daily Diario Vea reported.
Tascon is a deputy in the National Assembly, which is composed entirely of supporters of socialist President Hugo Chavez following elections last December. Among those killed were more than 40 leaders of peasant organisations, as well as social movement activists and members of Venezuela's armed forces.
Peasant activists have been targeted for assassination since the Chavez government passed a land reform law in 2001 opening the way for the redistribution of land holdings that exceed 5000 hectares and are being left idle or underutilised by their owners. So far, more than 2 million hectares have been redistributed to landless poor farmers.
snip---
On May 7, according to a report in the May 8 Diario Vea, Varela said: "I have sufficient proof to make the accusation that in Tachira there are paramilitaries who have entered Venezuela under the protection of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees." Varela explained that groups of Colombian paramilitaries have threatened legal refugees and forced them to act as agents for the paramilitaries in order to destabilise Venezuela.
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/33887
Tascon is a deputy in the National Assembly, which is composed entirely of supporters of socialist President Hugo Chavez following elections last December. Among those killed were more than 40 leaders of peasant organisations, as well as social movement activists and members of Venezuela's armed forces.
Peasant activists have been targeted for assassination since the Chavez government passed a land reform law in 2001 opening the way for the redistribution of land holdings that exceed 5000 hectares and are being left idle or underutilised by their owners. So far, more than 2 million hectares have been redistributed to landless poor farmers.
snip---
On May 7, according to a report in the May 8 Diario Vea, Varela said: "I have sufficient proof to make the accusation that in Tachira there are paramilitaries who have entered Venezuela under the protection of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees." Varela explained that groups of Colombian paramilitaries have threatened legal refugees and forced them to act as agents for the paramilitaries in order to destabilise Venezuela.
https://www.greenleft.org.au/node/33887
etc.
