Police fire tear gas on protesters Photographer targeted for death
Apr. 6, 2006. 10:10 AM
CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CARACAS, Venezuela - Troops braced for more demonstrations Thursday following the killing of three young Canadian-Venezuelan brothers after protesters took to the streets Wednesday demanding a crackdown on crime. The justice minister acknowledged that significant reforms were needed within Venezuela’s police forces. The slaying of the brothers by their kidnappers ignited protests in at least five areas of the capital Wednesday. Troops in riot gear used tear gas to disperse protesters who blocked a highway in eastern Caracas late in the day. As the protesters were pushed back off the highway, some began setting tires and trash bins afire on nearby roads. Many gathered at a plaza in the affluent Altamira district, a stronghold for opponents of President Hugo Chavez. “Chavez always criticizes the United States and talks about thousands of innocent people killed in Iraq, but what about the thousands who are killed here?” said protester Gustavo Marin, 26. Calm
returned to Caracas’s streets early Thursday, but more protests were planned. Caracas Mayor Juan Barreto said Wednesday would appoint a new chief of metropolitan police, National Guard Gen. Jesus Figueroa Rodriguez, who has led counter-drug efforts. The protests were touched off by the discovery Tuesday of the bodies of the three Faddoul brothers — John, 17, Kevin, 13, and Jason, 12, who had dual Canadian-Venezuelan citizenship. The bodies of the boys, who were shot in the head and neck, were found outside Caracas more than a month after they were kidnapped at a bogus police checkpoint on their way to school. The body of their 30-year-old driver was also found. Justice Minister Jesse Chacon said every police force in this crime-ridden South American country must be reformed to purge them of criminal-minded cops. “This model has failed and all the complaints of human rights violations, the creation of death squads in all the police departments, show it,” Chacon
told state television. He urged Venezuelans to unite against violent crime, but not to turn the incident into a politically motivated attack on the Chavez administration. Attorney General Isaias Rodriguez said investigators have questioned two police officers in the killings, which spurred widespread mourning and a sudden outburst of frustration on the streets. A Venezuelan news photographer died after being shot on his way to cover one protest. Jorge Aguirre of the newspaper El Mundo was killed en route to a demonstration, said Jose Gregorio Yepez, an editor at the paper. The shooting came as dozens of protesters burned tires outside the Central University of Venezuela. The photographer managed to take a picture of his killer’s back as the man — wearing a blue jacket and helmet — rode away on a motorcycle. Earlier Wednesday, some 400 demonstrators halted traffic at a different spot on the highway. Dozens of cars and buses passing through downtown Caracas had
``mourning” scrawled in white shoe polish across their windows. The Venezuela-born brothers lived with their Canadian father and Venezuelan mother, both of Lebanese descent, in an upscale Caracas neighbourhood. Their father owns shoe stores in the country. The family also lived briefly in Windsor, Ont., where they have relatives. The boys were abducted Feb. 23 when unidentified men dressed as police stopped their car at a roadside checkpoint on their way to school. Authorities have not ruled out the possibility the kidnappers could be active police officers. Officials said the kidnappers demanded more than $4.5 million — a ransom too steep for the parents to pay, their lawyer, Santiago Georges, said. Violent robberies, kidnappings and murders are frequent in Venezuela. There were 9,402 homicides reported in 2005, down slightly from 2004, according to government statistics. Kidnappings also rose from 51 in 1995 to 201 in 2002, according to the latest government
statistics available. Independent observers believe the real figures are much higher because many do not report kidnappings for fear of endangering their families.
--------------------------------- Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <../attachments/20060406/46b0809c/attachment.htm>