Venezuela Arrests Fugitive from Justice Manuel Rosales
by Stephen Lendman
Rosales is a US-born and educated fascist, parachuted into Venezuela by anti-Chavez US officials, a former Zulia state governor, overwhelmingly trounced by Chavez in the December 2006 presidential election – 62.8% to 36.9%.
He supported the aborted April 2002 two-day coup, signed the infamous (Pedro) Carmona Decree, naming himself head of state, abolishing democracy and Bolivarian fairness, dissolving Venezuela’s National Assembly and Supreme Court.
He was Zulia governor at the time, over 400 miles away, yet was present in Caracas at the presidential palace during those tumultuous events, never explaining his involvement and support.
From self-imposed exile in Peru, he vowed to return – to again participate in Venezuela’s political process. According to Telesur, he “arrived Thursday afternoon in Maracaibo’s airport, capital of the Venezuelan state of Zulia, and met with his party’s partners to discuss the coming (December) legislative elections.”
He heads the New Time (Nuevo Tiempo) anti-democratic social democrat party, founded in 1999, Chavez’s first year in office.
He lied to reporters, claiming he has no “debt with justice.” Venezuelan Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz said he’d be arrested on arrival for outstanding charges against him unrelated to the aborted 2002 coup.
On New Year’s eve 2007, Chavez granted amnesty to Carmona Decree signatories, saying “(i)t’s a matter of turning the page. We would like a country that moves toward peace.” He stressed no one is jailed in Venezuela for their political ideas.
Rosales is accused of supporting Colombian paramilitaries, attempting to enter Venezuela when he was Zulia governor – their mission to foment violence and instability.
He’s also charged with embezzling public funds during his tenure as Zulia governor. In 2009, he fled to Peru after Venezuela’s comptroller’s office said he had “registered funds that he couldn’t justify.”
Attorney General Diaz said he returned “to foment violence, not only in Maracaibo, but also in other cities of the country, aiming at the suspension of December elections. They know they already lost them.”
As promised, Rosales was arrested on arrival at Maracaibo airport. He’s expected to appear in a Caracas court later on Friday.
His lawyer, Jesus Ollarves, said he expected to be arrested but returned anyway, claiming he felt “exile is the worst prison.”
He’s back but not for stated reasons, most likely with US support – for destabilizing activities if he’s free or as a manufactured phony martyr to be used disruptively ahead of December elections.
Dark forces in Washington failed to replace Bolivarian fairness with US-controlled fascism after nearly 17 years of trying. Don’t expect them to quit now.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
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