Saturday, December 03, 2005
The opposition in action!
In a prelude to the elections to be held tomorrow it seems the opposition has a final statement to make outside of withdrawing from elections. Now they want blood! If this does not send a message to the international observers, or even the international viewer, I dont know what will. Perhaps certain defeat is more than some opposition can bare to muster. Democracy is being attacked!
Three Injured by Blasts in Venezuela: Three Injured by Blasts in Venezuela As Opposition Boycotts Elections, Prosecutors Say
By IAN JAMES Associated Press Writer
CARACAS, Venezuela Dec 3, 2005 — Three explosions went off at a military base and near a government office as Venezuela prepared for a congressional vote Sunday amid a boycott called by opposition parties, the attorney general's office said.
One homemade explosive went off near a government legal office Friday afternoon, injuring two people, said Aryeli Vera, spokeswoman for the attorney general's office. Two other explosives thought to be grenades went off in Fort Tiuna military base in Caracas, seriously injuring a police officer, she said.
"I don't want to blame all the opposition, but there are absolutely irrational sectors in the opposition camp who believe they can disturb the process with those acts," Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel told reporters Saturday, citing reports of the explosions.
President Hugo Chavez has accused major opposition parties of staging a U.S.-backed conspiracy by pulling out of elections days before the vote.
The U.S. government has denied involvement, while major opposition parties say they will not participate because they do not believe conditions are in place for a fair vote.
The Organization of American States, which has 50 observers monitoring the vote, said before the boycott that "important advances" had been made to generate confidence in the election. The European Union has an additional 160 observers on hand.
The government said soldiers and police were on alert after discovering C-4 explosives and other materials intended to disturb the vote through violence.
Eleven people accused of stockpiling molotov cocktails to "disrupt public order" were arrested Friday in the western state of Zulia, prosecutors said in a statement. Officials said they stopped the group while they were trying to block a road and also seized fuel, tacks, tires and identification cards falsely making them appear to be Venezuelan soldiers.
Rangel said the opposition boycott announced days before the vote was part of a Bush administration plot to tarnish perceptions of Venezuela's democracy. Chavez has said the U.S. is bent on ousting him.
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Three Injured by Blasts in Venezuela: Three Injured by Blasts in Venezuela As Opposition Boycotts Elections, Prosecutors Say
By IAN JAMES Associated Press Writer
CARACAS, Venezuela Dec 3, 2005 — Three explosions went off at a military base and near a government office as Venezuela prepared for a congressional vote Sunday amid a boycott called by opposition parties, the attorney general's office said.
One homemade explosive went off near a government legal office Friday afternoon, injuring two people, said Aryeli Vera, spokeswoman for the attorney general's office. Two other explosives thought to be grenades went off in Fort Tiuna military base in Caracas, seriously injuring a police officer, she said.
"I don't want to blame all the opposition, but there are absolutely irrational sectors in the opposition camp who believe they can disturb the process with those acts," Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel told reporters Saturday, citing reports of the explosions.
President Hugo Chavez has accused major opposition parties of staging a U.S.-backed conspiracy by pulling out of elections days before the vote.
The U.S. government has denied involvement, while major opposition parties say they will not participate because they do not believe conditions are in place for a fair vote.
The Organization of American States, which has 50 observers monitoring the vote, said before the boycott that "important advances" had been made to generate confidence in the election. The European Union has an additional 160 observers on hand.
The government said soldiers and police were on alert after discovering C-4 explosives and other materials intended to disturb the vote through violence.
Eleven people accused of stockpiling molotov cocktails to "disrupt public order" were arrested Friday in the western state of Zulia, prosecutors said in a statement. Officials said they stopped the group while they were trying to block a road and also seized fuel, tacks, tires and identification cards falsely making them appear to be Venezuelan soldiers.
Rangel said the opposition boycott announced days before the vote was part of a Bush administration plot to tarnish perceptions of Venezuela's democracy. Chavez has said the U.S. is bent on ousting him.
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