Hmmmm, who do you suppose put all these guns and bullets in this warehouse, and why?
Story from Aporrea:Translation mine.I wonder if all this was as innocent as it seems. An awful lot of old weaponry has done a sudden disappearing act in Venezuela, and for some strange reason, it always ends up having the pawprints of anti-Chavecito escualidos all over it. Remember, there are a lot of old army types who are looking to foment a coup against you-know-who, and they are precisely the sort to have access to these “old”, “disused” weapons.Plus, Baruta is opposition territory, so don’t anyone give me guff about how the Chavistas are going to be using this for their intimidating militias.Funny, too, how this find just happens to turn up shortly before the local elections, slated for the 23rd. But then again, given the oppos and their distaste for democracy that doesn’t go their way, can we honestly say we’re surprised?The Scientific Criminal and Penal Investigations Body (CICPC) discovered a large stockpile of undeclared weapons on Friday night in Baruta, Miranda. The CICPC director, Commissioner Marcos Chávez, informed that these weapons consisted of automatic pistols, revolvers, long guns, rifles and numerous projectiles, among other things, and were found during an intelligence raid on a warehouse in Baruta.According to Commissioner Chávez, the cache came from an arsenal, presumably belonging to an old armory which is now in disuse. All the same, the raided site only had permission to store food, not weapons.
Oh, and one new reader in Guinea (who could that be?)
I was wondering about that, too. And the one in the Balkans, just above Greece. Hmmm.
Yeah, that’s Bulgaria 🙂 Also, one in Mexico City (that one’s been around for a little while longer, methinks).
Do you know who the avid reader in Greece is?
Bulgaria…boy, now THERE’s one you don’t hear from everyday. LOL.
The Greek one might very well be Ifi, who hasn’t commented here in a while, but who’s a big Evo-fan and has me linked on this blog.
Aye. She is. She might not be very talkative but visits this page all the freakin’ time.=)
Am I the only one having problems with getting on aporrea.org?
No, I was having trouble with it too. And Venezuelanalysis, which is apparently on the same server. It seems to have been fixed now–try it again.
There’s nothing innocent about an unlicensed arms cache, but you can’t assume that everything that turns up is a sign of coup-plotting, either. There is a lot of gun violence in Venezuela by disorganized crime; someone has to supply those guns.
If the guns were bought for political violence — which seems unlikely given that the guns appear to take many different kinds of ammo, which isn’t an efficient way to arm a militia, but who knows — there’s no way to know which side it would be for. There are few Chavista militias in Baruta, but some of this city (it’s where I am now) is Chavista and there are the usual barrio gangs. As far as them turning up right before the election, that may have more to do with the upsurge in law enforcement activity before the election than an upsurge in gun imports. (Note also the very encouraging, heavy arrests of allegedly corrupt cops recently.)
it’s a bit of an exageration to speak of military weapons here. this looks like the inventory of a civilian gun shop. mostly hunting/sports rifles.
of course you can start a lot of trouble with them, but it’s hardly an arsenal for coup d’etat.
Unless, of course, it happens to be an opposition-ruled neighborhood in Venezuela, where the opposition routinely tries to off an elected president. And where elections are being held next Sunday, in which the president’s party is expected to pretty much sweep the governorships and mayoralties, much to the opposition’s dismay. Y’all ever consider that?