Informant38

Venezuela Led Latin America in Reducing Military Spending in 2009
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Venezuela Continues to Expand Free Public Higher Education Programs
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When considered even-handedly, the arrest of Judge Afiuni for illegally allowing a wealthy banker to be released from custody and thus flee the country reflects the government’s efforts to establish the rule of law in the historically corrupt banking sector and justice system.

Venezuela Analysis

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on another, less even hand:

Since Judge Afiuni’s imprisonment, a dizzying sequence of other high-profile arrests has taken place, pointing to Mr. Chávez’s recent use of his security and intelligence apparatus to quash challenges to his grip on the country’s political institutions. The arrests come at a time of spreading public ire over an economy hobbled by electricity shortages and soaring inflation.

Senior officials in Mr. Chávez’s government here, including Attorney General Luisa Ortega, say the most recent arrests were necessary to suppressconspiracies or to prosecute people whose comments were deemed offensive to Mr. Chávez.

Romero/NYTimes