The Chavez Government has denounced two assasination attempts on the President in two days, which have been met with the skepticism of the opposition. Yesterday the President said his intelligence police had a lead that his plane was going to be shot down from a beach. As the police went to the location they "found" a group of men with an anti-tank bazooka. Now, there are a few problems with the story. One, nobody was apprehended in a secluded beach in a sector that only has a single road going in. None of the neighbors heard any noises. Why didn't the "killers" use the bazooka to defend themselves?. Two, the site was 2 miles away from the airport and the range of an anti-tank bazooka is only three hundred yards. Two miles away from the airport an Airbus like teh one Chavez travels is is much higher than the 300 yards.
The second attempt reportedly took place today in the afternoon near a square in Caracas where pro-Government supporters gather. The intelligence police find a Car with three guys with rifles, weapons, radios. The three had ID's from a Caracas municipality led by an opposition leader. What's strange about this one is that no official program was available for that square and nobody new the President may appear (he didn't) or someone else like the Vice-President (he did).
I am skeptical too, but it is a sign of the division in Venezuela when such serious charges are met with absolute incredulity on one side and total certainty in the other. The same happened with today's strike. The Government declared it a failure, while the opposition said it was a success. In this case, though, I have no doubt about who is right. Traffic was lighter than on a Sunday, as my picture on a previous story shows and over 90% of stores were closed.
9:44:14 AM 
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