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Gold9472
04-08-2006, 02:18 AM
US Ambassador Unhurt in Caracas Protest Incident

http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-04-07-voa70.cfm

By Greg Flakus
Washington
07 April 2006

In Caracas, Venezuela Friday, supporters of President Hugo Chavez threw rocks, eggs and fruit at a vehicle carrying U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield from a stadium where he had donated baseball equipment to a local team. No one was injured in the incident, but the ambassador sees it as an escalation in hostile anti-U.S. actions.

Ambassador Brownfield was at a baseball stadium in Caracas with a few embassy staff members and his normal security detail when he says a representative of the local city precinct told him he would have to leave. He says the 300 or so people in the stadium were friendly and appreciative of the donations he had made, but that when he left a large, hostile crowd awaited him outside.

He says they threw mostly eggs, fruit and vegetables at his car and shouted slogans that made clear that they were supporters of President Chavez. Ambassador Brownfield spoke to VOA by telephone from the embassy in Caracas.

"Outside, the ladies and gentlemen who were protesting, stoning, egging, tomatoing, and following, identified themselves, at least by their shouts and their screams, as members of the Tupamaros of Caracas," he said. "In Venezuela, the Tupamaros is a clandestine organization, who describe themselves as urban guerrillas, who describe themselves as supporters of the current government."

After he left the stadium, Ambassador Brownfield says his vehicle and another embassy vehicle traveling with him became stuck in traffic. At that point another group of protesters, all of whom were riding motorcycles, surrounded his vehicle and began pounding it. The motorcyclists followed the embassy vehicles for a few kilometers before breaking off the attack.

The U.S. ambassador says this was not the first time such groups have attacked him. He says this was the third time in as many weeks that he has been targeted by these groups.

Brownfield says he learned later Friday that the Chavez government had expressed concern about the incident and he says he hopes something can be done to prevent future attacks.

"It is my understanding that the Foreign Ministry has called my office twice, immediately after the event, to find out largely what happened and to express concern and another representative from the office of the vice president also called to find out what had happened and whether I was alrightm" he said. "I do not think we have yet started any dialogue in terms of how to fix the situation and make sure it does not happen again or to reduce the risk that it would happen again."

Ambassador Brownfield says his visit to the stadium Friday did not have a political motive and was solely for the purpose of supporting the local baseball team. He says he has made similar donations to teams all over Venezuela in the past year.

Relations between the United States and Venezuela have soured in recent years and President Chavez has repeatedly accused Washington of trying to undermine his government.

beltman713
04-08-2006, 08:01 AM
Not very smart of them, allowing people to get that close, to his car. I've heard of officials in that part of the world being assassinated by motorcycle riders placing bombs on top of their cars and riding away. The bomb goes off blowing a hole through the roof of the car killing the official inside. I'm sure that would be the last thing Venezuela needs at this point in time.

Partridge
04-08-2006, 01:12 PM
US accuses Venezuela over attack
BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4890060.stm)

The US has accused city officials of the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, of complicity in an attack on the car of US Ambassador William Brownfield. The ambassador's convoy was pelted with eggs, onions and tomatoes and chased by motorbikes for some miles by supporters of President Hugo Chavez.

US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said the attack had been condoned by the city government.

However, the mayor's office in Caracas denied any involvement in the incident.

The BBC's Greg Morbasch in Caracas said Mr Brownfield is accustomed to verbal abuse from supporters of the president but this latest incident is the first time he and his team have had objects thrown at them.

Mr Brownfield - who was visiting a low-income neighbourhood in Caracas to donate baseball equipment to underprivileged children - had recently stated he was concerned for his safety.

Diplomatic consequences


The US under secretary of state told Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez that if such an incident happens again there would be severe diplomatic consequences, department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Mr Burns said the attack was a violation of the Vienna Convention and that the action was clearly condoned by the local government, the spokesman said. US Embassy spokesman Brian Penn said the Venezuelan police escorting the convoy did not intervene to stop the incident.

"The motorcyclists were throwing things at us for at least 10 minutes, and the police did nothing... It was serious," he said.

Mr Penn claimed the incident was organised by the mayor's office in Caracas, which has denied any involvement in the incident.

"No official authorised by the mayor's office participated," Luis Martinez, a spokesman for Mayor Juan Barreto, told AP.

Officials said the incident was organised by local residents who wanted Mr Brownfield to leave the area.

Strained relations

Relations between the US and Venezuela have been strained for some time, and Mr Brownfield has faced protests at recent appearances.

The American embassy has also asked the Venezuelan government to improve security for the ambassador, saying it is legally bound to do so.

President Chavez has been at loggerheads with Washington, accusing the Bush administration of orchestrating assassination and coup attempts in order to get at Venezuela's vast oil reserves, our correspondent says.

But US officials say Mr Chavez is causing instability in the region with his fiery anti-Bush rhetoric and autocratic style of leadership.

Gold9472
04-08-2006, 02:02 PM
U.S. Says Venezuela Complicit in Attack

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060408/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_venezuela

By GEORGE GEDDA, Associated Press Writer Sat Apr 8, 10:39 AM ET

WASHINGTON - The State Department accused Caracas city officials of complicity Friday in an attack on the car of U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield in the Venezuelan capital.

Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns summoned Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez to the State Department and told him that Venezuela was in violation of an international treaty that requires the host countries to ensure the safety of foreign diplomats, department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

The incident "clearly was condoned by the local government," McCormack said.

Pro-government activists bombarded Brownfield's car with fruit and vegetables and a group of motorcyclists chased the convoy, at times pummeling the vehicles with their fists.

McCormack said local government officials were handing out snacks to the perpetrators as Brownfield was participating in a ceremony at a Caracas stadium. The event included a gift of baseball equipment to children. McCormack said it was the fourth government-sponsored attempt to intimidate U.S. diplomats in Venezuela, three having occurred in the past three weeks.

"We will not be intimidated," McCormack said.

According to McCormack, Burns warned Alvarez that there will be "severe diplomatic consequences between our countries" if there is another incident.

U.S. relations with Venezuela have deteriorated sharply over the past 18 months.

Venezuela's socialist president, Hugo Chavez, has accused the United States of planning an invasion and said Washington was behind a failed coup attempt in 2002.

The Bush administration has denied the allegations while charging that Chavez is systematically dismantling Venezuelan democracy and using oil revenues to buy political influence in Latin America.