[NYTr] Arrest Warrant Issued for Venezuelan Ex-Governor Enrique Mendoza

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Venezuelanalysis - Dec 12, 2007
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/2995

Arrest Warrant Issued for Venezuelan Ex-Governor Enrique Mendoza

by Chris Carlson

Venezuela's Attorney General's office ordered the arrest of the
opposition leader and Ex-Governor of the state of Miranda, Enrique
Mendoza last week for his involvement in events during the 2002 coup
attempt against President Hugo Chavez. Opposition parties rallied to
his defense and labeled Mendoza a "political prisoner," but authorities
have yet to find and capture him.

Police arrived to the house of the ex-governor over the weekend after a
Caracas court ordered that he be detained, but Mendoza was nowhere to
be found. As authorities searched the home, Mendoza's mother assured
that her son had done nothing more than "serve and struggle for his
country."

Mendoza is accused of several crimes, among them civil rebellion,
violence against public organs of the state, and vandalism of public
property. The ex-governor was involved in taking over the state
television channel (VTV) on the night of April 10th, 2002 and forcing
it to go off the air, during which time President Chavez was taken into
military custody and a temporary government was put into power.

Leaders of the opposition rallied behind Mendoza, expressing their
solidarity with him, and accusing the Chavez government of arbitrarily
pursuing the case in reaction to their electoral loss in the national
referendum on December 2nd.

"We've had enough with the political prisoners, enough persecution, and
enough using judicial terrorism to silence dissidence," said Luis
Ignacio Planas, Secretary General of the Christian Democratic party
COPEI.

But government supporters celebrated the decision to pursue the case
claiming that the government has been far too lenient on its political
opponents who break the law.

"If there is one thing that characterizes this revolutionary process it
has been too much generosity with its enemies and detractors," said
Orlando Castillo, member of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela
(PSUV). "It is time to stop the injustice. This is a demand from the
people, and from the progressive sectors."

Mendoza's whereabouts remain unclear, but last week he assured the
press that he had no intention of leaving the country, and would not go
into hiding. His attorneys assured on Monday that he would turn himself
in as soon as it is clear where and under what conditions he will be
held.