Kindappings in Venezuela Create Worries of Anarchy for Some

The recently released GAO report cites Venezuela as a growing transshipment point for cocaine headed to the United States and Europe, but it’s not just drug trafficking that is on the rise in Venezuela, according to today’s New York Times. The paper reports this morning on the continuing spike in common crime in the country as well, in particular kidnappings, as Simon Romero writes that “an intensifying crime wave…has pushed the kidnapping rate in Venezuela past Colombia’s and Mexico’s, with 2 abductions per 100,000 inhabitants”—that according to Interior Ministry statistics in the country. Nowhere is kidnapping more serious problem than in the northwestern region of Barinas, still a Chávez stronghold but one which tallies 7.2 abductions per 100,000 people. Barinas is also the home state of Hugo Chávez and has, through the course of his presidency, been a “laboratory” for projects like land reform, writes the Times. But now, in the minds of some Barinas residents, the region is paradigmatic of disorder and chaos. “This is what anarchy looks like, at least the type of anarchy where the family of Chávez accumulates wealth and power as the rest of us fear for our live,” says a cattleman whose son was recently kidnapped for 29 days. [Chávez’s brother, Adán, is the state’s governor, and he has blamed kidnappings on the opposition as a means of showing weaknesses among Venezuelan security forces. Also, two other Chávez brothers act as either mayors or prominent business leaders in the region and Chávez’s father was once an important political leader in Barinas as well]. As with the GAO report, it appears that corruption and nepotism have played a significant role in doling out high positions of authority and money in Barinas. As the Times writes, “One reason for the rise in kidnappings is the injection of oil money into the local economy, with some families reaping quick fortunes because of ties to large infrastructure projects,” but the state remains Venezuelan’s most impoverished, a decade after its native son rose to power. Also, an interesting NYT blog article over the weekend looks at the contradiction of Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, which remains Latin America’s most expensive city, buoyed by oil money and an overvalued currency, even while many luxury items are out of the reach of most. Simon Romero and Gregory Kristof write “The recent influx of oilmen from as far afield as China and Russia, as well as representatives from other multinationals selling products in Venezuela, explains in part why an unexceptional apartment in Caracas rents easily for $4,000 a month.”

The Miami Herald reports this morning that former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori was convicted yet again Monday, this time sentenced to an additional 7.5 years in prison for paying off his former head of intelligence, Vladimir Montesinos, in 2000. The sentences, however, will run concurrently, and will keep Fujimori in prison until sometime into the 2030s, adding no time to the 25 years he is currently serving for his role in death squad murders during the 1990s. After being sentenced, Fujimori maintained that “the true judgment for me is that of the people, who have long absolved me in their hearts.” Indeed, his daughter, Keiko, is leading early polls for the 2011 race for president in Peru, illustrative of the mixed opinion many in the country have of the Fujimori clan.

On to the latest happenings in Honduras following the apparent collapse of negotiations led by Costa Rica’s Oscar Arias on Sunday. The European Union announced Monday that it was cutting off some $92 million in aid to the Honduran government while U.S. Sec. of State Hillary Clinton worked the phones, warning de facto leader, Roberto Micheletti, of the consequences if no deal was struck through the mediation process. Clinton called from India and her spokesman called the conversation a “very tough call.” But Micheletti, speaking to supporters yesterday, maintained that he would continue to resist pressure to cede power back to ousted President Mel Zelaya. Tom Shannon and Hugo Llorens, the U.S. ambassador to Honduras, were also working to find a resolution to the mediation impasse over the weekend, talking with Oscar Arias in Costa Rica. Amb. Llorens reportedly met last Thursday with business leaders in Honduras as well—a bastion of support for Mr. Micheletti—and warned them that the Micheletti government would never be recognized by the United States and that Honduras risks further sanctions if a solution is not found. This according to the LA Times. And the Miami Herald, which has been tepid at best in its condemnation of the coup thus far, runs an editorial today, arguing that Micheletti should accept the proposal of President Arias. “This crisis needs to come to a conclusion that returns Mr. Zelaya to a limited presidency while moving forward with expedited elections,” says the paper.

In other news this morning, Reuters reports that Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is defending a plan to allow more U.S. troops into his country for anti-narcotics operations. “The plan is to strengthen Colombian military bases, not to open American bases in Colombia,” Uribe said Monday. “The accord is meant to help Colombians regain their right to live in peace.” Meanwhile, Colombia’s neighbor, Venezuela, has ordered a review of its relations with Colombia in reaction to Uribe's plan to increase the number of U.S. troops there.

In Nicaragua, speaking at an event which marked the 30^th anniversary of the Sandinista revolution, President Daniel Ortega proposed to allow recall elections in the country and berated presidential term limits, which he called must stricter than those for other public offices. “If we are going to be just and fair, let the right to re-election be for all and people with their vote can award or punish,” Ortega told a crowd. “This is the principle that we have to defend.” Opposition leaders in the Nicaraguan Congress were quick to criticize Ortega for the remarks, but according to the Inter-American Dialogue’s Dan Erikson, “Ortega has a much stronger political base in Nicaragua than Zelaya did in Honduras,” where some say a similar project for ending term limits was in the works.

Finally today, an opinion piece in the Washington Post by Jorge Castaneda and Tamar Jacoby of the D.C.-based ImmigrationWorks. Analyzing the possibility of immigration reform in the U.S., the piece, interestingly, looks at the issue from a Mexican perspective. The two argue that “the United States can’t hope to implement an immigration overhaul without help from Mexico -- help administering legalization and dissuading future illegal immigration. And no Mexican government can afford to cooperate with Washington unless the reform includes a significant increase in temporary worker visas.”