Thursday, November 20, 2008

Manuitt strikes back: Outgoing governor accuses the National Guard

Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan):
Governor Eduardo Manuitt, who was publicly shunned by President Hugo Chavez and told even not to think of running for re-election with backing from the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), had remained remarkably quiet during the campaign for next Sunday's regional elections.

Not any more, he isn't. On Wednesday, he publicly denounced the National Guard (GN) and government officials for staging a raid on Fundamercado, a foundation which supplies food to less privileged people. Manuitt claimed that sacks of food destined for 21,000 people of scarce resources had been taken away.

The GN's takeover of Fundamercado and removal of the food was an "abusive police measure, and then accused guardsmen of also raiding and taking over radio stations in the state and threatening mothers, students, workers and farm workers and turning Guarico into "a state of permanent terrorism."

Manuitt attributed the raid to government fears that it was poised to lose the election. Now that he's been disowned by Chavez, Manuitt's daughter, Lenny, is running in his stead. She has backing from Patria Para Todos (PPT), a minor party whose allegiance to the government is in question after it endorsed several candidates challenging the PSUV.

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