Venezuelan manhunt underway for opposition leader

[Zorro]

Venezuelan security forces simultaneously raided the homes of Leopoldo Lopez and his parents, looking to arrest the hard-line opposition leader who President Nicolas Maduro blames for three deaths at recent anti-government protests.

Lopez, who hasn't been seen since a Wednesday night press conference, wasn't at either of the residences in Caracas leafy eastern district when groups of national guardsmen and military intelligence officials arrived late at night. Aides said neighbors banged on pots and pans to protest what they consider an arbitrary detention order.

"Maduro, you're a coward," Lopez said in a message posted on Twitter after security forces left the premises early Sunday. "You're not going to force me or my family to bow down."

The midnight manhunt capped another night of protests during which security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets to break up a group of some 500 students who have vowed to remain on the streets until all anti-government demonstrators are released. Authorities said 23 people were being treated for injuries, none of them life-threatening.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/venezuelan-manhunt-underway-opposition-leader-144525431.html

[sabbat hunter]

1. Chances are

he will either have to flee the country (if he hasn't already) or will wind up mysteriously dead.

[Mika]

2. S. Florida is destination #1 for pond scum on the run. eom

[COLGATE4]

3. Does that mean that we will

soon see Maduro in S. Florida?

[Marksman_91]

4. I'd say he's actually gonna end up going to Cuba when he leaves. n/t

[COLGATE4]

5. Pretty safe bet, unless the Cubans

feel he's outlived his usefulness.

[delrem]

6. You figure Venezuelan democracy is a Cuban plot? nt

[Marksman_91]

8. No, we figure that the Castros are using Maduro as a puppet

They're teaching him the ways of how to repress the people and keep them from ever rising up against the regime by way of fear. It's why the government has never bothered to fix the crime rate in these last 15 years: they know it's an effective tool to keep people at home and afraid of going out into the streets. The armed pro-government colectivos, which are nothing more than narcoparamilitaries, are simply another form of armed forces that answer directly to the government as well, though they "officially" have no affiliation with it.

The Castros want to keep their lapdog Maduro as long as they can in the president's seat so they can still keep receiving subsidies and oil from the Ven. government in exchange for "personnel" that come to "assist" in the glorious Revolution.

[delrem]

9. Why do you preface your ridiculous remarks with "no"?

As for your ridiculous remarks - - - well - - - they are truly out there.

[COLGATE4]

10. No. Venezuela's present government

(particularly its security organisms) is heavily dominated by Cuban 'advisors'.

[delrem]

7. Chances are his coffers will be even more overflowing! nt