Helicopter attacks Venezuela court,
Maduro denounces coup bid
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[June 28, 2017]
By Silene Ramírez and Eyanir Chinea
CARACAS (Reuters) - A Venezuelan police
helicopter strafed the Supreme Court and a government ministry on
Tuesday, escalating the OPEC nation's political crisis in what President
Nicolas Maduro called an attack by "terrorists" seeking a coup.
The aircraft fired 15 shots at the Interior Ministry, where scores of
people were at a social event, and dropped four grenades on the court,
where judges were meeting, officials said.
However, there were no reports of injuries.
"Sooner rather than later, we are going to capture the helicopter and
those behind this armed terrorist attack against the institutions of the
country," Maduro said.
"They could have caused dozens of deaths," he said.
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The 54-year-old socialist leader has faced three months of protests from
opposition leaders who decry him as a dictator who has wrecked a
once-prosperous economy. There has been growing dissent too from within
government and the security forces.
At least 75 people have died, and hundreds more been injured and
arrested, in the anti-government unrest since April.
Demonstrators are demanding general elections, measures to alleviate a
brutal economic crisis, freedom for hundreds of jailed opposition
activists, and independence for the opposition-controlled National
Assembly legislature.
Maduro says they are seeking a coup against him with the encouragement
of a U.S. government eager to gain control of Venezuela's oil reserves,
the largest in the world.
Venezuela's government said in a communique the helicopter was stolen by
investigative police pilot Oscar Perez, who declared himself in
rebellion against Maduro.
Images shared on social and local media appear to show Perez waving a
banner from the helicopter reading "Liberty", and the number "350" in
large letters.
The number refers to the constitutional article allowing people the
right to oppose an undemocratic government.
A video posted on Perez' Instagram account around the same time showed
him standing in front of several hooded armed men, saying an operation
was underway to restore democracy.
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Perez said in the video he represented a coalition of military, police
and civilian officials opposed to the "criminal" government, urged
Maduro's resignation and called for general elections. "This fight is
... against the vile government. Against tyranny," he said.
Local media also linked Perez to a 2015 action film, Suspended Death,
which he co-produced and starred in as an intelligence agent rescuing a
kidnapped businessman.
On Tuesday, witnesses reported hearing several detonations in downtown
Caracas, where the pro-Maduro Supreme Court, the presidential palace and
other key government buildings are located.
Opponents to Maduro view the Interior Ministry as a bastion of
repression and also hate the Supreme Court for its string of rulings
bolstering the president's power and undermining the
opposition-controlled legislature.
VOTE CONTROVERSY
Opposition leaders have long been calling on Venezuela's security forces
to stop obeying Maduro.
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![](../images/062817pics/news_r29.jpg)
A police helicopter flies over Venezuela's Supreme Court building in
Caracas June 27, 2017, in this still image taken from a video.
Mandatory credit Caraota Digital - MUST COURTESY CARAOTA
DIGITAL/Handout via REUTERS
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However, there was also some speculation among opposition supporters
on social media that the attack could have been staged to justify
repression or cover up drama at Venezuela's National Assembly, where
two dozen lawmakers said they were being besieged by pro-government
gangs.
Earlier on Tuesday, Maduro warned that he and supporters would take
up arms if his socialist government was violently overthrown by
opponents.
"If Venezuela was plunged into chaos and violence and the Bolivarian
Revolution destroyed, we would go to combat. We would never give up,
and what couldn't be done with votes, we would do with arms, we
would liberate the fatherland with arms," he said.
Maduro, who replaced Hugo Chavez in 2013, is pushing a July 30 vote
for a special super-body called a Constituent Assembly, which could
rewrite the national charter and supersede other institutions such
as the opposition-controlled congress.
He has touted the assembly as the only way to bring peace to
Venezuela. But opponents, who want to bring forward the next
presidential election scheduled for late 2018, say it is a sham poll
designed purely to keep the socialists in power.
They are boycotting the vote, and protesting daily on the streets to
try and have it stopped.
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Maduro said the "destruction" of Venezuela would lead to a huge
refugee wave dwarfing the Mediterranean migrant crisis.
"Listen, President Donald Trump," he said earlier on Tuesday. "You
would have to build 20 walls in the sea, a wall from Mississippi to
Florida, from Florida to New York, it would be crazy ... You have
the responsibility: stop the madness of the violent Venezuelan right
wing."
Opposition to the July 30 vote has come not just from Venezuelan
opposition parties but also from the chief state prosecutor Luisa
Ortega and one-time government heavyweights such as former
intelligence service boss Miguel Rodriguez.
Rodriguez criticized Maduro for not holding a referendum before the
Constituent Assembly election, as his predecessor Chavez had done in
1999.
"This is a country without government, this is chaos," he told a
news conference on Tuesday. "The people are left out ... They (the
government) are seeking solutions outside the constitution."
The government said pilot Perez was linked to Rodriguez.
Neither men, nor representatives for them, could be reached
immediately to comment on the accusations.
(Additional reporting by Deisy Buitrago, Girish Gupta, Eyanir
Chinea, Andrew Cawthorne and Andreina Aponte; Writing by Andrew
Cawthorne; Editing by Andrew Hay, Paul Tait and Himani Sarkar)
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