VENEZUELA: FIREBOMB HAS EXPLODES IN CAR PARK OF PRIVATE TELEVISION NEWS STATION GLOBOVISION

Record ID: 640748

  • Title: VENEZUELA: FIREBOMB HAS EXPLODES IN CAR PARK OF PRIVATE TELEVISION NEWS STATION GLOBOVISION
  • Date: 19th November 2002
  • Summary: (U2) CARACAS, VENEZUELA (NOVEMBER 17, 2002) (REUTERS) SLV DESTROYED CARS BEING REVIEWED BY FORENSIC POLICE (6 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF GLOBOVISION FEDERICO RAVEL SAYING "We think that this is a reprisal, we think that it could be any member of the violent circles. There are Bolivarian circles that are not violent, but in a city where the police are kidnapped by the army and there are no police in the street, we are at the mercy of the underworld and at the mercy of the terrorists." MV FIREFIGHTERS AT SCENE (2 SHOTS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GOVERNOR OF MIRANDA STATE ENRIQUE MENDOZA SAYING "The hours of this Government, the hours of all the violence that has been sown in the country are up, and I believe that this is part of desperation. There will be many acts similar to this and many acts of violence which we have to be prepared for." SLV PEOPLE AT GLOBOVISION DEMONSTRATING AGAINST THE TERRORIST ACTS (5 SHOTS) (W1) CARACAS, VENEZUELA (NOVEMBER 17, 2002) (REUTERS) MV SOLDIERS FIRING TEAR GAS (6 SHOTS) MV PEOPLE BEING ASPHYXIATED BY THE EFFECTS OF THE GASES (3 SHOTS) MV SOLDIERS WITH GAS MASKS ON
  • Embargoed: 4th December 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
  • Country: Venezuela
  • Topics: Crime,Communications,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7G92X4HNH7GBW2ETO6E6MN3NE
  • Story Text: A firebomb has exploded in the car park of the private television news station Globovision, setting fire to three cars but causing no casualties.
    And Venezuelan troops fired tear gas and shotgun pellets to clear anti-government demonstrators outside a Caracas police station, a day after President Hugo Chavez's government seized control of the police from the city's mayor, a foe of the populist president.
    Dozens of armoured military vehicles, backing several hundred National Guard troops, were deployed across the capital on Sunday (November 17) to enforce the government takeover of the metropolitan police force from Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena, a measure denounced by the opposition as illegal.
    Clouds of gas scattered demonstrators, including families and children, protesting outside the Mariperez police station after troops moved to prevent a small group of opposition leaders from entering the installation.
    Late on Sunday, a firebomb exploded in the parking lot of the private television news station Globovision, setting fire to three cars, but causing no casualties, police and firefighters said.
    No one claimed responsibility, but opposition leaders have blamed government supporters for past bomb and grenade attacks against anti-Chavez media, labour and business organizations.
    "We think that this is a reprisal, we think that it could be any member of the violent circles. There are Bolivarian circles that are not violent, but in a city where the police are kidnapped by the army and there are no police in the street, we are at the mercy of the underworld and at the mercy of the terrorists," said President of Globovision Federico Ravel.
    Interior Ministry officials on Saturday (November 16) ordered the 8,000-member Caracas city police force to report to the government to guarantee order, because it said a strike by some officers had hampered operations. But the opposition condemned the takeover as an unconstitutional attack on the mayor's authority.
    Chavez, a former paratrooper elected in 1998 who faces fierce opposition to his leftist rule, said the move was aimed at resolving a policing crisis. He also accused his opponents of manipulating officers for political purposes.
    The takeover has fuelled tensions between Chavez and his opponents even as international negotiators tried to broker a peaceful solution to the nation's long-running political war.
    Frequent protests and street clashes have rattled the world's fifth-largest oil exporter since April when Chavez survived a brief coup.
    After the short-lived uprising, Chavez has battled growing resistance to the self-styled "revolution" he says addresses poverty and inequality. The opposition, which accuses him of driving Venezuela into economic ruin and dictatorship, is pressing for an immediate referendum on his rule.
    Troops were deployed on Saturday after gunfights broke out between police officers loyal to the government and those opposed to the seizure. Though the government has named a new police chief, it was unclear how many officers would back the takeover; the previous chief, Henry Vivas, said he remained in command.
    But the police takeover could in effect neutralise an armed force potentially hostile to the government. The action comes after several street battles between the metropolitan police and militant supporters of the president, during which at least two people were killed and dozens injured.
    Several hundred protesters joined the Caracas mayor on Sunday outside the Mariperez police station, the headquarters of the motorised unit, to protest the takeover. But troops repeatedly prevented Pena from entering the building.
    The latest political skirmish comes as Organization of American States Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria struggles to negotiate a deal on an electoral solution to the country's political conflict.
    Chavez accuses political foes like Pena of plotting to overthrow him and has dismissed opposition calls for him to resign. He has urged his opponents to wait until August 2003 when the constitution allows a binding vote on whether he should stay in power.
    But opposition leaders, a loose alliance of unions, business leaders, political parties and rebel military officers, have threatened to call a national strike if their call for an immediate poll is blocked.
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