Caracas gunmen vanish from city payroll

[Bacchus39]

Some 4,000 city of Caracas employees, including hired gunmen, have failed to show up for work following the election of opposition Mayor Antonio Ledezma.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/826591.html

CARACAS -- The surprise electoral defeat last month of Hugo Chávez's candidate for mayor of Caracas -- and the consequent change of city government -- has helped cast light on some of the more unsavory activities that went on under outgoing Mayor Juan Barreto.

One result is that a large, though so far undetermined, number of hired gunmen may suddenly be out of a job.

The gunmen, belonging to armed political organizations loyal to the leftist government, are thought to be among some 4,000 city employees who have failed to show up for work since the new mayor, Antonio Ledezma, was sworn in two weeks ago.

''Altogether, we've found more than 9,000 employees on short-term contracts,'' said Richard Blanco, a top city official. ``We're carrying out an investigation to find out who and where they all are.''

According to the new mayor's spokesman, David Pérez Hansen, many of the missing 4,000 worked as bodyguards and motorcycle escorts for leading Chávez supporters, known as chavistas, who had no direct connection with City Hall.

''They include members of parliament,'' Pérez Hansen said.

When Barreto took over the metropolitan authority in 2004, he put leading members of the Tupamaro urban guerrilla organization in charge of the police.

The Tupamaros are one of a large number of armed chavista groups based in the 23 de Enero slum district west of the presidential palace.

Plain-clothes gunmen, riding police motorcycles without license plates, immediately began to proliferate in the streets of Caracas.

Control of the police (known as the PM after its initials in Spanish) has now been transferred to the interior ministry, but equipment, including motorcycles and weapons, continues to circulate illegally, officials said.

''More than half the 310 motorcycles assigned to the city authority are still missing,'' incoming Caracas security chief Angel Rangel said. ``The worst thing is that some are alleged to have been used in acts of violence, including robberies.''

VIOLENT CAPITAL

Caracas is one of the world's most violent cities, and often sees a couple of dozen murders in a single weekend. Police officers, many of whom are known to have criminal records, are frequently among those accused of the killings.

On Monday, Rangel and his team were ousted from their offices by chavista groups claiming the right to occupy them. Much of the information relating to missing equipment and personnel is now out of their reach. Despite complaints, the national authorities have failed to intervene.

An investigation by The Miami Herald, prior to the change of government, found that some of the chavista gunmen operated out of the Phelps Building, not far from City Hall.

During Barreto's time as mayor, blue Yamaha motorcycles like those used by the PM -- though without license plates -- were usually to be found lined up outside the building. Heavy-set men in civilian clothes, often with police badges and guns, hung around the main entrance.

A close associate of Barreto, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said around 50 were employed by a ''community development coordination body'' set up in October 2005, and based in the Phelps Building.

Their role, the associate said, was political enforcement, ''intelligence work'' and carrying out attacks on the opposition. ''This was also the group that attacked the ambassador,'' he said, referring to an incident in April 2006 in which former U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield (now ambassador to Colombia) was followed by a gang of motorcyclists who pelted his motorcade with vegetables.