In this week’s roundup…Hugo Chávez’s own crime legacy forces him to deploy thousands of troops into the streets of Caracas; MLB player rescued after being kidnapped from his mother’s house in Venezuela; Opposition candidates hold their first TV debate; Gunmen attack opposition candidate’s campaign bus; Los Roques is no longer a tourist attraction after Chávez takeover; One may own property in Venezuela, but it is Chávez who calls the shots.
Hugo Chavez deploys thousands to troops to help police curb widespread crime in Venezuela, The Associated Press via the Washington Post
President Hugo Chavez ordered thousands of National Guard soldiers into the streets of Venezuela’s capital and surrounding states Thursday, urging them to help outgunned police curb widespread violent crime.
Not-so-sweet home, The Economist
On November 9th a small group of armed men drove up to Mr Ramos’s modest family home in Valencia, arguably Venezuela’s baseball capital, which sits 150km west of Caracas.
Time for Washington to take the Venezuelan opposition seriously, Foreign Policy
Monday night in Caracas, opposition candidates to President Hugo Chávez held their first debate to decide who will challenge him in the scheduled October 2012 Venezuelan presidential election. In a sign of their continuing political maturation, the candidates rightly addressed bread-and-butter issues that matter to the vast majority of Venezuelans, such as the country’s skyrocketing crime rate and Chávez’s poor management of the Venezuelan economy.
Shots fired at Venezuelan candidate’s bus, CNN International
A couple on a motorcycle fired shots into a bus carrying Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado and her supporters Saturday, a campaign spokesman told CNN en Español.
Lights Out in Los Roques: Venezuela Beach Paradise Now Under Military Control Faces Hardships, Latin American Herald Tribune
Los Roques, a series of Caribbean island beach paradises recently put by Venezuela President Hugo Chavez under military control, is facing a series of new hardships, including a blackout that has lasted since Sunday, local press reported.
Venezuela Forces Sale of Rental Properties, The Wall Street Journal
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez signed a new rental law into effect over the weekend that obliges landlords to sell their property to tenants of more than 20 years at state-mandated discounts based on how long the space has been rented. Mr. Chávez hailed the law as a way of opening housing to the country’s poor and extending tenants’ rights, but critics see the law as a political ploy to compensate for a struggling state home-building initiative.