Page 11 - ARUBA TODAY

A11
WORLD NEWS Friday 7 July 2017
Venezuelan soldiers jailed amid unrest, document says

By JOSHUA GOODMAN portation of food and key
Associated Press ministerial posts. He now
CARACAS, Venezuela appears almost daily on
(AP) — Venezuela’s secu- TV decorating top officials
rity forces have arrested at or standing for hours shak-
least 102 members of the ing hands at ceremonies to
armed forces for alleged promote even mid-level of-
crimes such as rebellion ficers.
and abandonment of duty But cracks have started to
since a wave of protests appear, and many lower-
began against President ranking officers — and their
Nicolas Maduro’s govern- extended families — are
ment in early April, accord- sharing the painful conse-
ing to apparent military quences of triple-digit infla-
documents obtained by tion and widespread short-
The Associated Press. ages.
The majority of the soldiers In April, a lieutenant in a
are being held in Ramo restive western state cut up
Verde prison outside Cara- his official military ID card as
cas, according to the lists supporters cheered. Then
provided by an army offi- three lieutenants publicly
cial on the condition of an- rejected Maduro as com-
onymity for fear of reprisals. mander in chief and fled to
While 13, including two Female soldiers march during a military parade in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, July 5, 2017. Colombia.
Venezuela’s security forces have arrested at least 102 members of the armed forces since a
army captains, were listed wave of protests began in early April, according to apparent military documents obtained by The “There’s saber-rattling in
on charges of rebellion Associated Press. the barracks,” one of the
and treason, the large ma- (AP Photos/Ariana Cubillos) lieutenants, Jose Alejandro
jority were reportedly being Venezuela’s crisis deepens, All the soldiers were report- The Defense Ministry didn’t Mendez, told Blu Radio in
held for less serious offenses the military is facing grow- edly arrested before June reply to an email request an interview from exile.
such as desertion, aban- ing signs of doubt among 14, and it’s impossible from seeking comment. “Different cells exist, some
donment of duty and theft soldiers. the registries to know de- Publicly, there’s been little independently and oth-
of military property that Maduro has been lean- tails of any of the individual sign of dissent on the part ers working in a more co-
nonetheless point to a larg- ing on the armed forces cases. of the top military brass. ordinated manner, but
er problem of indiscipline to crush almost-daily pro- The AP could not indepen- Maduro since taking office certainly there’s a search
within the armed forces. tests that have left at least dently verify the authentici- in 2013 has greatly expand- underway to resolve the
The lists appear to lend 90 people dead and hun- ty of the lists, but they came ed the military’s power, giv- conflict the country is
credence to claims that as dreds injured or arrested. from a well-placed source. ing it control over the im- experiencing.”q

28 dead after battle among rival

gangs in Acapulco prison: report

ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) — than 2,000.
Fighting erupted between A brawl between rival drug
rival gangs inside a state gangs at an overcrowded
prison before dawn Thurs- penitentiary in northern
day, and 28 inmates were Mexico in February resulted
killed and three wounded, in 49 inmates being killed,
officials in the Pacific resort Mexico’s deadliest prison
said. melee in years. That clash
Authorities had initially re- was between inmates
ported five deaths, but lat- aligned with the Zetas and
er raised the toll more bod- Gulf drug cartels.
ies were found scattered In June, Mexico’s govern-
throughout the prison. mental rights agency is-
Robert Alvarez Heredia, sued a report that said
the Guerrero state secu- many of the country’s pris-
rity spokesman, said in a ons are unsafe, overcrowd-
statement that the fighting ed and understaffed. The
broke out around 4 a.m. He report warned of insuffi-
said security forces later re- cient staff, unsafe proce-
gained control and slowly dures and poor medical
began discovering bodies care at many facilities.
in a kitchen, a cellblock The National Human Rights
and other areas. Commission said it sur-
“The incident began be- veyed conditions at over
cause of the constant dis- 190 state, local and federal
pute between rival groups jails. It found that inmates
inside the prison,” Alvarez often controlled some ar-
said. State police said the eas of prisons or had con-
prison population is more traband inside.q