The new city authorities in Caracas claimed to have uncovered "administrative irregularities" supposedly committed by official of the previous administration allied to President Hugo Chávez.
The office of newly elected opposition Metropolitan Mayor Antonio Ledezma did not go into detail about the nature of the alleged wrongdoing. However, Caracas Prefect Richard Blanco said that formal denunciations would be made to the Attorney General's Office and the Comptroller General.
Citizen Security Secretary Miguel Ángel Rangel also said that irregularities had been found by his officials. Voicing some doubt as to whether denunciations would be investigated, he said any further cases would not remain "hidden" as far as he was concerned.
Rangel also claimed that officials from the previous administration had not returned municipal vehicles they used while they were in office. He urged the public to denounce any such cases they were aware of – but, again, he didn't go into detail, even though he claimed that retaining of the vehicles was impeding the council's ability to "attend to the needs of the Caraqueños."
Ledezma's election as mayor was one of the more important victories for the opposition as it made modest gains in the regional elections held last November 23.
Metropolitan Caracas is now almost entirely controlled by the opposition, which now rules in all but one of the capital's five municipalities. So, too, is Miranda state, which surrounds the capital and is the most populous state in the country.
As Metropolitan mayor, Ledezma has said he's willing to work with Chávez' United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) for the common good of the city and its citizens. But when Ledezma called a meeting of municipal mayors, Jorge Rodríguez, a former vice president and leading figure in the PSUV who was elected mayor in Libertador municipality in west Caracas, didn't show up.
On Monday, Rodríguez announced that officials were reviewing legal and judicial aspects" of Chávez' decision on Sunday that the state should take over the Sambil shopping mall in La Candelaria in the run down city center of the capital.
Chávez' move appears to have taken the government by surprise, fuelling suspicions that once again he may have been extemporizing when he announced a measure that had not been discussed with anyone before. The shopping mall was a few months away from opening for business when he unleashed what looked like the proverbial bolt from the blue.
In particular, he's resurrected old concerns and suspicions that the government holds little respect for private property – even though this principle is enshrined in the Bolivarian Constitution adopted at Chávez' behest in 1999. It was noted that Rodríguez said the right to own private property would be respected "as we have always done."
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