Events Calendar
In This Section
Report: Russian billionaire buys Hitler's car
U.N. says greenhouse gases reach record high in 2008
Attack on election convoy kills 21 Filipinos
Canadian woman loses benefits over Facebook photo
Mom says son in coma heard everything for 23 years
Big Bang atom smasher sends beams in 2 directions
4 U.S. service members die in Afghan attacks
Afghan provinces get millions to reduce poppies
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Akron man killed in crash on his street
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Browns find another way to lose
After 30 years at the helm of Akron Children's, Considine still looks to future
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Akron Circle K store robbed for second time this month
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Sunday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
Akron Zips:
No. 1 Akron to play Stanford next
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Onion, By Any Other Name…
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (70) Savings in Medicare Advantage
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Faye Dunaway to be Evicted?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Monique asks how to get tickets for the Polar Express.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – You are All Wrong About Jobs, or the Lack of Jobs, Being the Reason People Do Not Live in NEO
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Military dissenters being pushed aside, says Venezuelan watchdog group
By Fabiola Sanchez
Associated Press
Published on Sunday, Jun 29, 2008
CARACAS, VENEZUELA: Hundreds of Venezuelan military officers are no longer assigned duties and have been relegated to their homes, quietly pushed aside for their dissent under President Hugo Chavez, according to former military commanders and a watchdog group.
They say the officers have been sidelined for objecting to Chavez's socialist ideology, his push to form civilian militias and his ambiguous stance toward Colombia's leftist rebels.
Dissident army Gen. Angel Vivas Perdomo said he sought to defend the military's apolitical tradition when he asked the Supreme Court to toss out Chavez's order for troops to salute with the motto: ''Fatherland, socialism or death — we will triumph.''
''It's a motto from Fidel in Cuba that, on top of being unconstitutional, is absolutely undemocratic,'' Vivas Perdomo said in his first interview since challenging the motto in court in May.
He said the motto, previously used by Cuban leader Fidel Castro, ''takes away the right of every Venezuelan citizen to think differently and to disagree with socialism.''
About 800 officers are without formal duties because of their dissent, and many of them wait out their days at home, said Rocio San Miguel, who heads Citizen Control for Security, a nonprofit group that monitors public security issues.
Many of the 1,200 officers who have requested early retirement are also unhappy about the current state of the military, said San Miguel, who said the information comes from active officers.
She said those cases combined represent nearly one-seventh of the Venezuelan military's 14,900 officers, pointing to significant divisions.
Some dissident officers have reported being blocked from entering bases, San Miguel said.
Speaking to troops Tuesday, Chavez denied accounts of military divisions.
Chavez, whose government has benefited from rising oil profits, has granted the military substantial pay raises and has spent billions of dollars buying Russian-made fighter jets, helicopters and assault rifles.
But a Defense Ministry spokeswoman and a top military aide would not respond to accounts of dissident officers being relieved of their duties, despite repeated requests.
One former defense minister, retired Gen. Raul Isaias Baduel, said there is increasing concern among officers and within the ranks about ''how far (Chavez's) personal effort to stay in power will take the country.''
Baduel broke with Chavez last year by rejecting constitutional changes that would have allowed the president to run for re-election indefinitely.
CARACAS, VENEZUELA: Hundreds of Venezuelan military officers are no longer assigned duties and have been relegated to their homes, quietly pushed aside for their dissent under President Hugo Chavez, according to former military commanders and a watchdog group.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
