Venezuela tracking down
ex-president for his part in
anti-Chavez coup
Venezuela is trying to track
down former president Carlos
Andres Perez who was indicted
for his alleged role in the
April 2002 coup against
President Hugo Chavez, Attorney
General Isaias Rodriguez said
Friday.
"We don't know if he is in Costa
Rica, the Dominican Republic or
the United States," Rodriguez
told local press. But once
Perez's whereabouts are
determined, an arrest warrant
will be issued to the
International Criminal Police
Organization, Interpol.
The attorney general vowed to
bring the ex-president to
justice and ruled out a trial in
absentia in Venezuela.
During the second term in
1989-1993, Perez had to face
social uprising and two failed
military coups, one of which was
commanded by Chavez himself on
Feb. 4, 1992.
Chavez was briefly ousted in the
2002 coup.
Chilean candidate ready for
earlier OAS elections
Interior Minister Jose Insulza,
candidate for the
secretary-general of the
Organization of American States
(OAS), said Friday that he would
accept the idea of bringing
forward elections to March if
the member states so decide.
"These 34 (OAS) countries will
decide whether to bring forward
the elections (from June)," said
Insulza, who ended a tour in the
Caribbean on Friday to seek
supports for his bid.
"I am happy with the trip to the
Caribbean. I was pleased with
the acceptance, the respect and
the opinion of the
administration of (Chilean)
President (Ricardo) Lagos in
these countries. They placed
great importance to their
relations with Chile," he said.
Insulza launched a tour in
Guyana, Grenada, Barbados and
Trinidad and Tobago, to promote
his candidacy on Feb. 18 along
with Lagos and Foreign Minister
Ignacio Walker. On Tuesday,
Insulza and Walker also traveled
to Haiti for the same purpose.
The OAS top post has been left
vacant since former Costa Rican
President Miguel Angel Rodriguez
was forced to resign last
October due to a corruption
scandal in his home country.
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Peruvian president to
testify over alleged
signature forgery
Peruvian President Alejandro
Toledo will testify before a
commission over charges
against him of a massive
signature forgery, which was
to qualify his party in the
2000 elections,
investigators said Friday.
The president is allowed to
testify behind closed doors
on March 14 despite calls
for publicity, said Edgar
Villanueva, chief
investigator of the case.
However, Toledo has
permitted a TV coverage of
the event, which he said is
good for democracy and will
"clear up facts."
Toledo's elder sister
Margarita Toledo has been
under house arrest since
January for alleged crimes
in faking thousands of
signatures of purported
supporters of Toledo's Peru
Posible party, so as to
qualify the small group in
the 2000 general elections.
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