[Previous entry: "Evo Morales 'padlocked' in palace"] [Next entry: "Iraqi official: 'It's civil war'"]
04/08/2006:
"U.S. Envoy's Car Pelted in Venezuela"
Supporters of President Hugo Chavez threw eggs, fruit and vegetables at the U.S. ambassador's car Friday, and a group of motorcyclists chased his convoy for miles, at times pounding on the vehicles, a U.S. Embassy official said. No one was hurt.Embassy spokesman Brian Penn said Venezuelan police escorts did not intervene as the car carrying Ambassador William Brownfield was pounded and pelted.
"We're being attacked by groups of motorcyclists while we're traveling in an embassy car," Penn told The Associated Press by cell phone shortly before the motorcycles stopped chasing the four-car convoy.
"It's a very violent demonstration by a small group of people who appear to be organized by the mayor's office," Penn said.
The Caracas mayor's office, however, denied any involvement. "No official authorized by the mayor's office participated," said Luis Martinez, a spokesman for Mayor Juan Barreto.
Brownfield has faced protests at recent appearances. Chavez has repeatedly accused Washington of conspiring to overthrow him, an accusation U.S. officials have denied. The U.S. Embassy has asked the Venezuelan government to improve security for the ambassador, saying it's legally bound to do so, Penn said.
breitbart.com
US accuses Venezuela over attack
...The US under secretary of state told Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez that if such an incident happens again there would be severe diplomatic consequences, department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Supporters of Hugo Chavez are said to be behind the protests
Mr Burns said the attack was a violation of the Vienna Convention and that the action was clearly condoned by the local government, the spokesman said.
US Embassy spokesman Brian Penn said the Venezuelan police escorting the convoy did not intervene to stop the incident.
Venezuela killings spark protests
Protesters in Venezuela have taken to the streets in anger following the discovery of the bodies of three boys kidnapped on their way to school.
Police fired tear gas at demonstrators blocking a road as thousands of marchers brought Caracas traffic to a standstill, demanding justice.
After the protests, the capital's mayor said he was replacing the chief of police with an army brigadier general.
Correspondents say there is frustration over the perceived rise in crime.
Jason, Kevin and John Faddoul - aged 12, 13 and 17 respectively - were abducted while being driven to school in February. They held dual Canadian-Venezuelan nationality.
Their driver was also killed. The kidnappers remain unidentified.
Last week, a prominent Italian businessman was kidnapped and later murdered.
Photographer shot
In the Caracas neighbourhood where the brothers grew up, residents set up road blocks to express anger and sorrow over the killings.
The protesters carried banners and shouted slogans such as: "Justice for the Faddoul brothers."
Students also marched to the ministry of the interior.
(L-R) Kevin, John and Jason Faddoul were born in Venezuela
"Where is the justice, where is the answer for the people, how many people die here each week?" protester Cristina Alvarez told the Reuters news agency.
"At times, you don't trust your neighbour," university student Alejandro Linares told the Associated Press news agency.
A news photographer covering the demonstrations, Jorge Aguirre, was shot dead by an unknown gunman while covering one of the protests.
The Faddoul boys' kidnappers had demanded the parents pay a ransom of $4.5m. The family's lawyer said it had been too much to pay.
A farmer found the boys' bodies in scrubland outside the city, with gunshot wounds to the neck and head.
Police investigations are so far focusing on eyewitness accounts that the youngsters and their chauffeur were seized at a fake checkpoint manned by men in police uniforms.
However, Venezuela's attorney-general says so far he has no evidence of police involvement in any of the cases.
'the youngsters and their chauffeur...'
Rice moves to block Chavez power play
Condoleezza Rice, the American Secretary of State, is heading a concerted, but little-publicised, diplomatic effort by Washington to thwart the ambitions of Hugo Chavez, the firebrand Venezuelan President, to create and lead an anti-American axis in Latin America.
Faced by a resurgence of Left-wing populism in the Hispanic world, the Bush administration has decided to try "to do business" even with its harshest critics, if it can block the regional power play by Mr Chavez, backed by his friend Fidel Castro, the Cuban dictator.
Ms Rice had a friendly, first meeting last month with Evo Morales, the new Bolivian President, even though he has threatened to nationalise foreign businesses and announced the end of the ban on cultivation of coca, the plant from which cocaine is produced.
The administration is also likely to adopt an initially conciliatory approach towards Ollanta Humala - if he wins the Peruvian vote next weekend. But the prospect is viewed with alarm in Washington.
Roger Noriega, the assistant secretary of state for Western hemisphere affairs until last year, said: "He seems to have a military populist instinct that will undermine the recent democratic restoration."
Mr Noriega, who remains close to the administration, said he believed that Mr Chavez's role in the Morales victory and the Humala campaign has "probably been decisive".
Moderate Left-wing presidents have also won recent elections in Chile, Uruguay and Brazil, but Washington maintains good relations with all three governments.
The next headache for America is looming in Mexico, where the anti-capitalist message of Andres Lopez Obrador has made him front-runner for July's presidential vote.
