The head of Venezuela’s opposition has called on President Hugo Chavez to declare a “national emergency” against crime.Blaming the Chavez administration for engaging in “ostrich politics”, Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) leader Omar Barbosa laid out a wide-ranging plan to combat crime. This would include strengthening local law enforcement bodies, promoting cultural activates as an alternative to violence, and forcing the federal government to “renounce using aggressive dialogue”.
One pro-Chavez news piece blasted the UNT and Barbosa’s anti-crime strategy:
Who do they really want to take weapons away from? Certainly the well-off classes are armed and I’m not afraid (or should I be) to say that their “armed to the teeth.” Do they truly believe that these people will yield their right to “defend” themselves so easily? Could it be that the emergency plan it to violently attack the poorest communities of our large cities? – [ed. personal translation]According to the AP, crime has become the top concern among Venezuelans and that the government “has stopped releasing annual murder figures.”
The UNT was formed earlier this month in order to create a “unified platform” against Chavez and his allies. According to Spanish daily ABC, the UNT is made up of ten political parties from different parts of the political spectrum. Though the next elections will be for local offices next year, the UNT aims to become a “permanent movement”.
Image- New York Times (2006 photo of “a Venezuelan policeman detaining men in Caracas.”)
Online Sources- ABC, Radio Mundial, eTaiwannews, BBC Mundo, El Espectador, El Nacional
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