5 Dead in Venezuela After Tense Police Standoff
Source: AP
Venezuelan police have raided a building occupied by presumed members of a pro-government militia and authorities say five people were killed.
Among those killed is Jose Odreman, who was a well-connected leader of a militia group aligned with the socialist government.
Police moved in before dawn Tuesday to arrest what authorities said is a gang behind multiple homicides. That led to an eight-hour standoff that created panic and blocked traffic across several downtown blocks.
During a recess in the shooting, Odreman blamedd Interior Minister Miguel Rodrigues Torres for the bloodshed in remarks to the media.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/dead-venezuela-tense-police-standoff-26043412
EX500rider
(10,834 posts)Bacchus4.0
(6,837 posts)Here he is with some old friends.
He is the bald guy. The pic with the lady is the current first lady. The young dude was the chavista paramilitary deputy creep in the legislature who was murdered last week.
friendly_iconoclast
(15,333 posts)Archae
(46,312 posts)friendly_iconoclast
(15,333 posts)http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/08/venezuela-militia-killed-police-violence-shield-revolution
I lay full responsibility on you of what might happen to me. Enough comrades have been sacrificed, Odreman said on camera addressing Rodriguez Torres.
Shortly afterwards, Odreman was shot dead. Photographs posted on social networks showed Odreman being held captive by security officers followed by videos where his dead body can be seen lying in a pool of blood...
...After Odremans death, a series of pictures appeared on social media showing the militia leader alongside high-ranking officials including the late Chavez, former vice-president José Vicente Rangel and President Nicolás Maduros wife, Cilia Flores.
Yep, it's a purge...
Judi Lynn
(160,515 posts)October 08, 2014
Silence From the Media as the Paramilitaries Go Rogue
Terrorism and Assassinations in Venezuela
by MARIA PAEZ VICTOR
Last Friday, the centre of Caracas was filled with thousands of mourning citizens as they accompanied two flag draped coffins loaded with flowers they had cast upon it in homage.
If a Member of Parliament representing the Venezuelan opposition had been brutally tortured and stabbed to death in his own home, the Western press including Canadas- would have splashed the news in headlines around the world.
Yet this has just happened to a Member of Parliament from the governing party of Venezuela, but the international press is mostly silent. International politicians have not wrung their hands with indignation or regret, as they have about the lawful incarceration of opposition leader Leopoldo López who publicly and repeatedly incited mobs to violence and caused has at least 47 deaths.
On Wednesday, October 1, 2014, Robert Serra, 27 years old, a lawyer and legislator from the governing party PSUV, the youngest Member of Parliament of Venezuela, and his partner Maria Herrera, were assassinated in their own home in a central area of Caracas. It was an outrageous and deliberate act of terror. Robert Serra and María Herrera were tortured, stabbed and then bled to death. He specialized in criminology, and was engaged in the task of helping to curb crime in the country. María Herrera assisted him in this vital work. Robert Serra came from a poor family; his mother worked as a street hawker to help him go to law school. He was famous for his insightful interventions in parliament and was much beloved, some referred to him as a future Chávez.
Their deaths were carried out systematically. Ernesto Samper, ex-president of Colombia and current president of UNASUR, said: This crime is evidence of the infiltration of Colombian paramilitary in Venezuela.
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/08/terrorism-and-assassinations-in-venezuela/
friendly_iconoclast
(15,333 posts)Bacchus4.0
(6,837 posts)Six people related to late Deputy Robert Serra remain in custody since Monday night in Caracas, in the headquarters of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin), for their alleged involvement in the murder of the lawmaker and his assistant, María Herrera, on October 1 in downtown Caracas.
Off the record, authorities detained two police officers of Policaracas and four other people who worked directly with Serra and could be linked to his murder.
Government sources said that investigators have already confirmed that there was complicity between the perpetrators of the crime and people close to the deputy.
-----------------------------------
Nothing about Uribe there. And the only paramilitaries involved appear to be the police and the chavista paramilitaries Serra worked for.