Caracas Daily Journal News Briefs for Saturday, August 2, 2008

An arrest warrant was issued against Venezuelan-Argentine businessman Guido Antonini Wilson in connection with the suitcase containing $800,000 in cash that was seized by authorities in Argentina last August. The whereabouts of Antonini Wilson aren't clear, and security services are under orders to find him.

One prisoner was killed and eight others injured during violence last Thursday afternoon at a prison in Barinas, President Hugo Chavez' home state. The cause of the fighting wasn't disclosed, but reports say gunshots were heard from inside the prison. The presence of firearms is a frequent feature of life behind bars in Venezuela.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) is scheduled to open the process of registering candidates for the state and municipal elections next Tuesday. CNE President Tibisay Lucena has ruled that aspirant candidates included in a ban imposed by Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russian won't be allowed to register.

Venezuela could find itself brought before the InterAmerican Human Rights Court in a case centered on retired Gen. Francisco Uson, according to Hector Faundez, head of the human rights center at the Universidad Central de Caracas (UCV). Uson's legal counsel claims that his rights to due process have been violated.

Antimano, a poor and violent district of west Caracas has been picked as one of several "pilot centers" for a proposed new system of community policing, according to Metropolitan Police (PM) Commissioner Wilmer Flores Trosel. Community policing is based on involving local residents in cooperation with security forces.

An estimated 40 percent of the roads in Caracas are in poor condition, riddled with potholes and even large gaping holes, some large enough to swallow a small car, according to the Venezuelan Society of Civil Engineers. As if you didn't know.