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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Venezuela opposition politician killed |
| 2015-11-27 |
| A regional opposition leader in Venezuela has been shot dead at a campaign rally less than two weeks before parliamentary elections. The Democratic Action party says Luis Manuel Diaz was killed by a man who approached the stage after a public meeting in central Guarico state. Opposition leaders blamed militias supporting the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). President Nicolas Maduro denied this and said an inquiry had been launched. "The interior ministry has strong indications that it was a clash between rival criminal gangs," said Mr Maduro. Lilian Tintori, the wife of jailed opposition leader, Leopoldo Lopez, addressed opposition supporters alongside Mr Diaz shortly before the shooting. The Democratic Action party leader, Henry Ramos Allup, nitially tweeted that Mr Diaz had been killed by gunmen who shot from a passing car. He later rectified and said the shots came from a gunmen who came close to the stage after the rally. Mr Maduro responded to Mr Ramos Allup's comments by telling him to produce evidence to back up his accusations. "We must not jump into conclusions," said the president. "And let us not accept any type of provocation!" he urged his supporters during a rally. The head of Venezuela's Electoral Commission, Luis Emilio Rondon, has also expressed concern over recent incidents of violence. He called for a thorough investigation "to identify the perpetrators and tackle impunity". Opposition politicians say their candidates have been attacked on numerous occasions in the past weeks. Miguel Pizarro, an opposition politician running for re-election in Caracas, said he was confronted by armed men who shot into the air in the neighbourhood of Petare on Sunday. Miranda state governor Henrique Capriles said he was attacked by a group of masked men in the town of Yare earlier this month. The government has denied any involvement in any of the attacks and accused the opposition of trying to provoke PSUV supporters. |
| Posted by:Pappy |
| #1 "The interior ministry has strong indications that it was a clash between rival criminal gangs," So the party in power admits its a criminal gang. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-11-27 07:52 |