Chavez foe arrested over drug haven comment

[Bacchus39]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100323/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_chavez_foe

Chavez foe arrested over drug haven comment

CARACAS, Venezuela – An outspoken opponent of President Hugo Chavez said Monday that police have taken him into custody while he awaits trial on conspiracy charges for saying Venezuela has become a haven for drug trafficking.

Former Zulia state Gov. Oswaldo Alvarez Paz, who has also been accused of spreading false information and publicly inciting violation of the law, said federal agents planned to escort him to intelligence headquarters in Caracas.

"I am assuming responsibility for the things I have said," Alvarez Paz told the Globovision television channel.

The station broadcast footage of government agents accompanying Alvarez Paz from his residence in the capital of Caracas to an awaiting car, which then drove off.

His attorney, Omar Estacio, said the charges are unfounded and expressed doubt that prosecutors would have any success in court.

"He is a political prisoner, there is no doubt about that," Estacio said.

Representatives from the Attorney General's Office did not immediately answer phone calls seeking comment on the arrest Monday evening.

The charges against Alvarez Paz stem from comments he made during a talk show broadcast by Globovision, the only TV channel in Venezuela that remains critical of Chavez.

"Venezuela has turned into a center of operations that facilitates the business of drug trafficking," Alvarez Paz said last month on "Hello Citizen."

Alvarez Paz has said he stands by the remarks and insists he has broken no laws.

Opponents accuse Chavez of growing increasingly intolerant of criticism and using the judicial system to harass and imprison opponents.

Chavez denies holding sway over prosecutors and says only people who break the law are being prosecuted and jailed.

[Wilms]

1. VHeadline Commentary

Published: Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Bylined to: Carlos M. Pietri

snip

This "gentleman" in the TV show ALO CIUDADANO, addressed the nation saying that to defeat Chavez, it could not be done through an electoral process, proposing less traumatic methods and that they should explore a more efficient way ... emphasizing that the current regime would have to be stopped in the quickest possible time...

I, personally, consider that Alvarez Paz' words constitute a crime, since, in an irresponsible and unfounded manner, he urged hatred against the institutions and their governors ... an action that must be sanctioned by the law. He also called for, and urged, another military uprising by asking members of the Armed Forces to pronounce themselves against their Commander in Chief … it was for this reason that the Prosecutor General's Office was compelled to initiate investigations against Alvarez Paz.

snip

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=89544

This is how they try to wind up people to think Chavez won't leave office.

[Bacchus39]

2. you posted someone's response to another article

that is all the Vheadline link is.

[Judi Lynn]

3. All the evidence is available on video. Great! Thanks for the article. n/t

[Bacchus39]

4. yes it will be!!! saying that Venezuela is a center for drug trafficking

looking forward to you providing the link and the translation!!!!

[naaman fletcher]

5. Do you think this should be illegal?

Do you think in the US someone who said this would be arrested?

[Wilms]

6. Let's see: call for the violent overthrow of a government...

:eyes:

I think you're pretty much taking your chances with that one wherever you are.

[Bacchus39]

7. and the drug comment which is what he was arrested for? n/t

s

[naaman fletcher]

8. What are you talking about? thats not what he was arrested for. nt.

[protocol rv]

9. Could you find a link in youtube showing what he said?

I saw a version of what he said on Youtube, and I didn't hear the words claimed in the article by Carlos Pietri. However, given the nature of electronic editing, it's possible the version I saw had something cut out. If anybody has the full unedited Alo Ciudadano statement, it would be good to watch it and see what was exactly said.