2 men caught between 2 nations

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Wed, Jan. 28, 2004


2 men caught between 2 nations

Two Venezuelan military officers accused by Venezuela of being involved in two bombings and being held in a federal detention center in Miami-Dade have applied for political asylum.
BY RICHARD BRAND AND ALFONSO CHARDY
[email protected]

The case of two Venezuelan military officers seeking political asylum in Miami may create a diplomatic bind for Washington, embarrassed to harbor men accused of terrorism in Caracas yet reluctant to return them to the highly politicized courts in Venezuela, analysts say.

National Guard Lts. Germán Varela and José Antonio Colina, outspoken critics of President Hugo Chávez, held at the Krome detention center since they arrived on a flight from Colombia in December, have already added to the long-rocky U.S. relations with the leftist Chávez. (snip)

Varela and Colima are accused of participating in bombings last February of the Colombian and Spanish diplomatic missions in Caracas, which injured four people. They are also accused of orchestrating a shooting spree in a Caracas plaza in late 2002 that left three dead.

''The U.S. is probably not terribly keen to make a decision one way or another,'' on their asylum request, said Michael Shifter, a senior analyst at the Inter-American Dialogue think tank in Washington. ``If they send the two back to Venezuela, they'll be subject to criticism. If they decide to release them it gives the Venezuelan government a lot of ammunition to criticize and point out the hypocrisy on the U.S. position on terrorism.''
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/7815386.htm