Chávez: The government is in debt to the Caracazo victims

[Judi Lynn]

CARACAS, Friday February 27, 2009

Chávez: The government is in debt to the Caracazo victims

Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez took part on Friday in a mass to honor the casualties of the Caracazo and said that "the Bolivarian state is in debt to the victims of February 27th, 1989."

"The Bolivarian state should make bigger efforts in search of justice in the face of that assault, not only in terms of claiming the issue as a historical event of fair rebellion of the poor, but also in search of justice to find the perpetrators," said the head of state.

He recalled that state authorities issued a bench warrant against then President Carlos Andrés Pérez, "but he is protected by the US government; he is the first one who should pay for the genocide."

Chávez also put the blame on Metropolitan Mayor Antonio Ledezma, who was the Caracas governor in 1989. "He is mostly responsible for that assault on the Venezuelan people, because he led the Metropolitan Police."

http://english.eluniversal.com/2009/02/27/en_pol_art_chavez:-the-governme_27A2237975.shtml