Venezuela Detains 11 For Attack
On Synagogue
Caracas - Venezuela has detained 11
people, among them seven police officers, for attacking a synagogue
in the capital Caracas last month, authorities said.
Luisa Ortega Diaz, director of the Venezuelan General Prosecutor's
Office, said seven policemen and four civilians had been detained
for their alleged involvement in the attack.
Amid an apparent rise in anti-Semitic sentiment in Venezuela
following Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip, an armed
group of 15 vandalized the oldest synagogue in the capital on Jan.30
in what Jewish leaders called the worst attack on their community in
the country.
The detentions were made after President Hugo Chavez declared
Saturday he was against such "counter-revolutionary criminals."
Chavez ordered the Prosecutor's Office to detain Valentin Santana,
leader of the pro-Chavez group La Piedrita, who was blamed for
conspiring in the attacks on the synagogue and the Apostolic
Nunciature in Venezuela.
Santanta was also blamed for the attacks on the main cultural
complex El Ateneo de Caracas and the TV channel Globovision, and of
making death threats against many businessmen and opposition
politicians.
"That person (Santana) must be detained. Nobody here can threaten
anybody with death," Chavez said, adding his government would not
allow destabilizing acts to be committed in the country.
Ortega said the 11 people were detained in house raids early Sunday
in several districts of the capital.
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