The Associated
Press notes that the remark came one day after Capriles attempted to lead a
march through the poor Caracas neighborhood of La Vega. While the AP says the
march was marked by a fight between “stone-throwing Chavistas and opposition
sympathizers,” and was ultimately broken up by police, Chavez claimed that the
opposition members were armed. “Wherever they go, violence follows; they go
carrying weapons illegally. Once of them was carrying an Eastern police weapon.
They are violent and aggressive,” El Universal quotes him as saying. Still, the
president called on his supporters not to be provoked by the opposition.
The remarks highlight
the highly polarized nature of Venezuelan society, a factor which could fuel
violence in the lead up to the October elections. But despite Chavez’s
characterization of the opposition as gun-wielding fanatics, he himself has the
support
of various urban militia groups in Caracas. The most powerful of these are
in the city’s “23 de Enero" neighborhood, an area which has been described
as a “micro-state” run by armed men, where police do not enter without the consent of militia leaders.
News Briefs
·
Though the election may be over, Mexico too is
seeing its share of political unrest. A final
recount confirms Enrique Peña Nieto’s victory by some seven percentage
points, but Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has vowed to continue challenging the
result in court, citing allegations of vote-buying and election fraud.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets in Mexico
City to protest the election. The BBC reports
that, surprisingly, the protestors are not just leftists, students and trade unionists
(as the AP
claims), but actually consist of a broad coalition of individuals
expressing concern over reports of irregularities in the elections.
·
Animal
Politico reports that the PRD has invited its ideological opposite, the PAN,
to join in demanding an official investigation into rumors that the PRI bought
thousands of votes prior to last weeks election.
·
The
Washington Post takes a look at Miguel Angel Mancera, Mexico City’s leftist
mayor-elect. The paper claims that Mancera’s victory illustrates the success of
the PRD in turning the capital city into a bastion of social tolerance in a
traditionally conservative Catholic country.
·
Barely two weeks after news emerged that United
States Drug Enforcement Administration agents had killed
a drug suspect in Honduras, the AP reports that two DEA officers shot
and killed the pilot of an alleged drug flight earlier this month after he
refused to surrender and “made a threatening gesture.” Alex Main of the Center
for Economic and Policy Research told the wire agency that the latest DEA
killing “looks like an escalation with a sense of a lack of accountability and
over-stepping their boundaries in Honduras.”
·
Raul Castro is winding down his visit to East
Asia after stopping in China and Vietnam.
The Miami Herald claims that the Cuban leader took two days to arrive in
China, although most flights arrive in only one, leading to rumors
of a “secret stopover.” Castro has visited
the tomb of Ho Chi Minh earlier today, where he paid his respects by laying
down a wreath of flowers. In addition to addressing trade relations with both
countries, some have speculated that the purpose of the trip is to serve as an
opportunity for Castro to view more mixed economies in action. He is set to
return to Cuba on Tuesday.
·
The
New York Times profiles the rise of organized crime in Argentina. While the
country is still a long way away from seeing the kinds of brutal acts of
violence that characterize the drug war in Mexico, drug gangs like the Sinaloa
Cartel have broadened their activities there in recent years.
·
In spite of a series
of guerrilla attacks in southwest Colombia in recent days, Colombian
President Juan Manuel Santos has claimed that the government has “total control”
over the area, according to El
Espectador.
·
Americas Quarterly’s Nic Wirtz discusses recent student protests in Guatemala,
where the government has proposed an unpopular new law which would require
primary school teachers to obtain university degrees. Wirtz claims this is a major
test of President Otto Perez’s power, and questions whether he will order a
harsh crackdown given his frequent use of states of emergency in the past.
·
James Bosworth of Bloggings
by boz looks at Ecuador’s dependence on Venezuela for refined oil. With the
Correa administration seeking
a $515 million loan in order to address a financial deficit in the wake of
a drop in oil prices, Bosworth notes that the country will be forced to seek
even more loans (likely at worse rates) if Chavez loses power.
·
51 years after the Dominican dictator Rafael
Trujillo was assassinated, a Dominican tourism company is offering a tour “designed
to educate people about the tyranny and fear under which Dominicans lived while
paying tribute to the men and women who opposed Trujillo,” reports
the Miami Herald.
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