A former defense minister who has emerged as a leading critic of President Hugo Chavez warned on Wednesday that Venezuela's military is bringing trumped-up criminal charges against him. Gen. Raul Isaias Baduel said military prosecutors informed him of the impending charges without revealing details of the accusations. He denied any wrongdoing
and accused Chavez of wanting to silence his criticism of the government. «This is not a legal matter, it's political,» Baduel said, predicting that he could soon be detained _ or even killed. «Maybe they will jail me or I'll lose my life ... by orders of President Chavez. Baduel broke with Chavez after retiring from the military last July and helped persuade Venezuelans to vote down constitutional changes that would have allowed the president run for re-election indefinitely. He has repeatedly raised concerns that Chavez loyalists could use trumped-up charges to accuse him of misspending public funds during his tenure as defense minister.
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