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A12 WORLD NEWS
Monday 14 January 2019

Venezuelan congress leader briefly detained amid standoff

By FABIOLA SANCHEZ to identify Guaido in the Still, he acknowledged that
JOSHUA GOODMAN 33-second video, his wife, police officers had partook
Associated Press Fabiana Rosales, said on in the arrest and said they
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) Twitter that he had been would be disciplined.
— The new head of Vene- detained by a commando "We want to inform the
zuela's increasingly defiant unit of the feared SEBIN in- people of Venezuela that
congress was pulled from telligence police. As news the officials who took that
his vehicle and briefly de- of his detention spread, he upon themselves are being
tained by police Sunday, a was then released. dismissed," Rodriguez said
day after the U.S. backed "We are going to fulfill our on state TV.
him assuming the presi- constitutional duties," Guai- U.S. Secretary of State Mike
dency as a way out of the do said a group of cheer- Pompeo called on Ven-
country's deepening crisis. ing supporters at the rally. ezuela's security forces to
The confusing incident, "We are survivors — not vic- uphold its citizens' consti-
which drew swift interna- Juan Guaido, president of National Assembly, shows marks on tims, and we are going to tutional rights, singling out
his wrists, which he says are from handcuffs, to supporters at a
tional condemnation, is rally in Caraballeda, Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 13, 2019. move this country forward." Intelligence Chief Manuel
bound to ramp up tensions Associated Press Adding to the confusion, Cristopher Figuera. "The U.S.
between the opposition the government tried to and the world are watch-
and government following Guaido is intercepted on masks and carrying assault shift the blame to Guaido's ing," Pompeo tweeted.
President Nicolas Maduro's his way to an anti-govern- weapons are seen strug- allies, with Communica- A coalition of 13 Latin
swearing in for a controver- ment town hall meeting in gling to shut the door on tions Minister Jorge Rodri- American countries and
sial second term this month. the port city of La Guaira. someone being pushed guez saying that the "media Canada condemned
A video circulating on so- In the video shot on a cell- into an SUV before racing show" had perhaps been Guaido's "arbitrary" deten-
cial media purports to show phone by a motorist stuck down a highway. orchestrated to provoke an tion targeting the head of
the moment in which Juan in traffic, several men in ski While it was not possible international uproar. the National Assembly.q

Protesting Colombians call for chief prosecutor to resign

gathered outside Marti- job. the auditor, Jorge Enrique
nez's heavily guarded of- Before becoming Colom- Pizano, was found dead in
fice carrying flashlights to bia's chief prosecutor in his home. Pizano's son died
"shine a light" on what they 2016, he was legal counsel a few days later after drink-
called the country's corrupt for the Aval Group, a New ing a glass of water laced
institutions. They also car- York Stock Exchange-listed with cyanide that he found
ried Odebrecht signs and banking conglomerate on his father's desk, spark-
held posters claiming Mar- that partnered with Ode- ing a series of conspiracy
tinez was a stooge of the brecht to develop a $2 theories. Martinez has said
company. billion highway project in he had nothing to do with
"We want Colombia to be central Colombia whose Pizano's death.
a decent country, and financing is currently under After he became chief
having someone like Mar- investigation. prosecutor, Martinez for-
tinez as our chief prosecu- Martinez's reputation nose- mally recused himself from
tor is simply unethical," said dived in November when a the Oderbrecht investiga-
Diego Carrero, a university local news channel aired a tion. His office has charged
In this Nov. 28, 2018 photo, demonstrators burn banners during
a march demanding more money for education and protest tax professor at the protest. recording of a phone call a deputy minister and a
reform in Bogota, Colombia. Protesters said they were in which Martinez can be former senator with taking
Associated Press encouraged by recent de- heard berating an internal bribes and issued arrest or-
velopments in Peru, where auditor who had suggest- ders for several middlemen.
By MANUEL RUEDA information that links Co- Attorney General Pedro ed Odebrecht was bribing Martinez also has accused
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — lombian politicians and Chavarry was forced to politicians to secure the lu- Odebrecht of paying al-
Thousands of Colombians business groups with Brazil- resign amid allegations crative highway contract. most $50 million in bribes
staged protests in several ian construction giant Ode- that he tried to obstruct an Martinez screams profani- in Colombia, or more than
cities Friday to demand the brecht, which is at the cen- Odebrecht investigation in ties at the auditor and tells four times what the com-
resignation of the country's ter of a mammoth regional that nation. him not to discuss his find- pany acknowledged in
chief prosecutor. corruption scandal involv- Opposition parties in Co- ings with anyone else. a 2016 plea bargain with
Nestor Humberto Martinez ing bribes to win govern- lombia have long claimed The recording dates from U.S authorities admitting
is a key U.S. ally in the war ment contracts. that Martinez is riddled with 2015, when Martinez was to paying $788 million in
on drugs, but his critics at As the sun set on Colom- conflicts of interest that a lawyer for Aval. But it bribes to win contracts in
home say he has withheld bia's capital, protesters make him unsuitable for his wasn't released until after 12 nations.q