>>> dhenwood at panix.com 02/06/01 11:10AM >>>
Charles Brown wrote:
>I'd say the style in Venezuela, which includes taking the state
>power of a nation-state, is very much as promising as all you list
>above, perhaps even more so.
Financial Times - February 5, 2001
AMERICAS: Struggling Chavezmay look to loyalist for lifeline: The Venezuelan president's choice of defence minister could be an attempt to keep control of the armed forces, writes Andy Webb-Vidal:
Mingle among the ragged crowd that waits daily outside Venezuela's presidential palace to petition Hugo Chavez for a job and the sense of desperation is palpable.
A red beret, the badge of allegiance that once belonged to a militant follower, lies abandoned by the roadside. Clenched fists grip the shut gates.
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Venezuela to Stop Paramilitaries Before they Start
February 5, 2001 Please Distribute Widely
Dear Colleagues,
The formation of Colombian style paramilitary squads by wealthy ranchers in Venezuela, near the border of Colombia, has reared its head in recent days.
Venezuela President Hugo Chávez wasted no time in acting to stop the paramilitaries before they start.
He has appointed a civilian - a journalist - as the nation's new Defense Secretary. And José Vicente Rangel's first task is to prevent the paramilitaries from forming.
After decades of paramilitary atrocities in Colombia, El Salvador, Mexico and other countries, directed by US Pentagon manuals in "counter-insurgency," Venezuela becomes the first major nation to develop a strategy against the paramilitary phenomenon.
Narco News has translated key stories from Venezuela and Colombia about this historic development, as well as Rangel's biography and our own analysis:
http://www.narconews.com/rangel1.html
from somewhere in Bolívar's América,
Al Giordano Publisher The Narco News Bulletin http://www.narconews.com/ narconews at hotmail.com
Free mailing list for updates of new reports:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/narconews