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A12 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 20 OctOber 2018

Venezuela’s prosecutor rejects calls for independent probe

By JOSHUA GOODMAN government constitutional
Associated Press assembly that has taken
CARACAS, Venezuela powers from the opposi-
(AP) — Venezuela’s chief tion-controlled congress.
prosecutor said he is in- Since then, he’s arrested
vestigating police officers dozens of senior officials,
who failed to keep safe an including two former heads
opposition politician who of state-run oil giant PDVSA,
plunged from the 10th floor on allegations of corrup-
of a high-security building, tion — something the now-
even as he rejected calls exiled Ortega was loath to
for an independent probe do in the decade she was
into the suspicious death. in charge.
The death last week of Fer- But he’s also faced criticism
nando Alban touched a for wielding his power arbi-
nerve with many Venezu- trarily and failing to release
elans who doubt the gov- dozens of activists jailed on
ernment’s account that what the opposition con-
the Caracas-area council- siders trumped-up charges.
man took his own life just In August, Saab was with
three days after his surprise Maduro on stage at a mili-
arrest at an airport. Alban tary ceremony when ex-
was returning from a trip to plosives-laden drones were
the U.N. General Assembly Venezuela’s Chief Prosecutor Tarek William Saab works at his office in Caracas, Venezuela, detonated nearby.
in New York to galvanize Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018. He said the evidence
opinion against President Associated Press points to the involvement
Nicolas Maduro’s socialist ing something up would be United States and other for- part of the investigation,” of prominent opposition
government. committing slander.” eign governments, are an he said. politicians including former
In an interview, Chief Pros- He said the autopsy per- attempt to “interfere” in For many Venezuelans, in- National Assembly Presi-
ecutor Tarek William Saab formed on Alban was doc- Venezuela’s justice system. cluding some former gov- dent Julio Borges. Borges,
downplayed the criticism umented with photographs “We aren’t going to del- ernment supporters, Al- now living in exile in Colom-
and suggested that oppo- and the results were shared egate to any foreign gov- ban’s death has echoes of bia, has called the accu-
sition leaders who insist that with Alban’s family and ernment the ownership of the dirty war tactics used sations a baseless attempt
Alban was thrown from lawyers for them to audit. our criminal justice system,” by state agents in the 1960s to crush dissent amid an
the building or tortured to So far, they haven’t pre- Saab said. “That’s abusive and 1970s, when prominent unprecedented economic
death could face prosecu- sented any objections, he and disrespectful.” leftists — including the fa- crisis.
tion themselves. said. Still, he recognized that no ther of Vice President Delcy “It’s a huge contradiction
“Those who say it was a Saab rejected calls by op- prisoner should be able Rodriguez — were found to say the autopsy can be
murder haven’t presented position leaders for an in- to commit suicide while dead in jail cells with little audited but then threaten
any evidence,” he said. dependent probe carried in state custody and said explanation. those who believe he was
“They first have to give out by international ex- those responsible for failing Saab, 56, took over as Ven- murdered,” said Borges,
names of those who car- perts to settle conflicting to protect him would be ezuela’s chief prosecutor who was with Alban at the
ried out the murder. But no- reports over how he died. probed for negligence. 15 months ago when his U.N. General Assembly be-
body has dared to do that He said such calls, which “His keepers were inter- predecessor Luisa Ortega fore his arrest at Caracas’
because they know mak- have been backed by the viewed because they are was ousted by the pro- airport.q

The contrasts of Mexico’s southern and northern borders

Associated Press MEXICO BORDER LIKE? patrolling the roads lead-
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Some The official border crossing ing away from the crossing
3,000 Central American mi- is a bridge connecting the where migrants catch rides
grants prepared to cross cities of Tecun Uman, Gua- or walk along the roadside.
into Mexico from Guate- temala and Ciudad Hidal- WHAT’S THE U.S.-MEXICO
mala on Friday with hopes go, Mexico. A gate onto the BORDER LIKE?
of eventually arriving to bridge on the Guatemalan The U.S.-Mexico border
the United States. Busloads side was closed Friday and between Tijuana and San
of Mexican federal police blocked by police. But rafts Diego is the world’s busi-
were gathering in Ciudad also cross the swift-moving est land border crossing.
Hidalgo and a Mexican mil- Suchiate River, moving car- It is also the most heavily
itary helicopter flew along go and people between fortified segment between
the river in anticipation. the two countries day and both countries and now
Here is a look at the dif- night, typically without sees comparatively few il-
ferences between the much government interfer- legal crossings. In some
Guatemala-Mexico border ence. Locals said they had places in the area, the
and the U.S.-Mexico border been warned by Mexican U.S. has installed three lay-
between Tijuana and San In this July 14, 2013, file photo, pastors and others raise their arms authorities not to carry peo- ers of walls and fencing.
Diego where members of on the San Diego side of border fence during a cross-border ple. At times Mexico has There is also bright lighting,
a migrant caravan arrived Sunday religious service with others on the Tijuana, Mexico side stepped up its immigration roads patrolled by the Bor-
last spring. of the fence. patrols along the border, der Patrol and surveillance
WHAT’S THE GUATEMALA- Associated Press but it has had more success technology.q