Interior & Justice Minister, Ramon Rodriguez Chacin has announced the signing by President Chavez of the intelligence & counter-intelligence law. Rodriguez Chacin says the new law means that the current State Political & Security (DISIP) Police and the Military Intelligence Directorate (DIM) will be transformed. The new law, the Minister states, has guidelines on how the new organs will function and he argue that Venezuela of the 21st century now has the tools and the capacity to produce intelligence and counterintelligence that will enable the State to take strategic decisions in its road to Socialism. The Minister adds that the transformation will be undertaken in several stages. According to a Center of International Policy analyst on Colombia, the announcement of Manuel Marulanda's death was not official but came from a few chance answers Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos "tossed off" in an interview with Colombia's Semana magazine. The analyst claims that Santos received a rebuke from President Alvaro Uribe and suggests that it is no secret that Santos, who comes from Colombia's most prominent newspaper family, wants to be President in 2010. His unorthodox announcement of Marulanda's death must be viewed in that context.
The Colombian government, it would appear, is desperate to get hold of the body of Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) leader, Manuel Marulanda as a major war trophy. Colombian army chief, General Mario Montoya says the government will pay a ransom to anybody who can tell them where the body has been buried. Engaging on a damage control exercise, Montoya claims that he was misinterpreted when the sum of $2.7 million was put forward. The army, the General points out, uses two forms of reward, the first for specific information, such as the location of an FARC leader or arms dump and the second, for information needed at a specific moment in time, in this case the recovery of the body of Marulanda. Payments in the first category range from $55 to 2.7 million and in the case of Marulanda, the amount is being studied. The government, he defends, is interested in finding out how the rebel chief died, whether it was from a heart attack, which he doubts, or whether it was from a government attack on his camp.
President Chavez has attended the ceremony in which new integral general medicine doctors have received their job positions. The act took place in the Teresa Carreno Theatre in Caracas. President Chavez has announced the opening of 203 new basic clinics throughout Venezuela. 960 integral medicine doctors and 2,000 nurses have joined the health program, which includes 2,700 primary attention clinics throughout the country. President Chavez says that the Barrio Adentro health scheme has 3,681 primary and second stage clinics in Venezuela.
Colombian Senator, Piedad Cordoba says she is certain that under the new FARC leadership the humanitarian agreement, which has been put on ice, will be taken up again with the freedom of more hostages. The Senator maintains that she knows the new FARC commander and comments that he has a serious political structure. Cordova forecasts a political and negotiated solution to the current civil war in Colombia. The Venezuelan government has reacted cautiously to news of FARC leader, Manuel Marulanda's death.
Patrick J. O'Donoghue
patrick.vheadline@gmail.com
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