Venezuela's Maduro sends military to fight crime in Caracas streets

By Enrique Andres Pretel

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday sent some 3,000 troops into the streets of the capital of Caracas to crack down on rampant crime that has made the OPEC nation one of the most dangerous in the world.

The "Secure Fatherland" plan is a new effort to lower violent crime following close to 20 similar attempts during the 14-year rule of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

"Our armed forces are taking the streets to protect the people," Maduro said in a speech to military police and troops that was carried live on state television.

"I call on you to serve your country. It must be more than just patrolling. It must a commitment of conscience, passion, and love."

The plan will create around 500 checkpoints in the coming months around the city. Some 9,000 new police officers currently in training and some 1,600 National Guard officers will later join the program.

The opposition has called it yet another half-baked attempt to crack down on crime, which has become the top concern for Venezuelans of all walks of life.

Official figures show that more than 16,000 people were killed in Venezuela in 2012, an increase of 14 percent from the year before and a murder rate of 55.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest in the world. Close to 3,4000 have been killed this year alone.

Non-governmental organizations that track violence report that the 2012 figure was actually above 21,000. The government accuses the media and the opposition of magnifying the problem and creating a "sensation of insecurity" for political gain.

One prominent human rights group criticized the new plan on the grounds that the military is trained to fight wars and to control public order, not to prevent crime.

Chavez himself was highly critical of previous governments that used the military to break up demonstrations or protests.

Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed when the military suppressed riots sparked by a fuel price hike in 1989, creating a lasting stigma about using troops to control civilians.

"The armed forces are different now," said Maduro on Friday when asked about potential human rights abuses in an interview with regional television station Telesur.

Maduro faces a delicate situation after winning a narrow victory in last month's election, which was triggered by Chavez's death.

He fell considerably short of his former boss's resounding election victories, beating his rival by only 1.5 percentage points, and the opposition has refused to recognize the results.

Crime was considered one of the biggest shortcomings of the Chavez government, which was widely admired for expanding access to healthcare, investing in education and providing subsidized groceries for the poor.

The interior ministry recognizes that many of the robberies, homicides and kidnappings are carried out by "mafias" within the police forces themselves.

Experts say the problem is rooted in a dysfunctional justice system, poor working conditions for police officers, and chaotic and gang-controlled prisons.

Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver, said he will also seek limits on television programming that promotes violence and a "cult of weapons."

(Reporting by Enrique Andres Pretel; Additional reporting by Diego Oré; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Venezuela's Maduro sends military to fight crime in Caracas streets

By Enrique Andres Pretel

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday sent some 3,000 troops into the streets of the capital of Caracas to crack down on rampant crime that has made the OPEC nation one of the most dangerous in the world.

The "Secure Fatherland" plan is a new effort to lower violent crime following close to 20 similar attempts during the 14-year rule of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

"Our armed forces are taking the streets to protect the people," Maduro said in a speech to military police and troops that was carried live on state television.

"I call on you to serve your country. It must be more than just patrolling. It must a commitment of conscience, passion, and love."

The plan will create around 500 checkpoints in the coming months around the city. Some 9,000 new police officers currently in training and some 1,600 National Guard officers will later join the program.

The opposition has called it yet another half-baked attempt to crack down on crime, which has become the top concern for Venezuelans of all walks of life.

Official figures show that more than 16,000 people were killed in Venezuela in 2012, an increase of 14 percent from the year before and a murder rate of 55.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest in the world. Close to 3,4000 have been killed this year alone.

Non-governmental organizations that track violence report that the 2012 figure was actually above 21,000. The government accuses the media and the opposition of magnifying the problem and creating a "sensation of insecurity" for political gain.

One prominent human rights group criticized the new plan on the grounds that the military is trained to fight wars and to control public order, not to prevent crime.

Chavez himself was highly critical of previous governments that used the military to break up demonstrations or protests.

Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed when the military suppressed riots sparked by a fuel price hike in 1989, creating a lasting stigma about using troops to control civilians.

"The armed forces are different now," said Maduro on Friday when asked about potential human rights abuses in an interview with regional television station Telesur.

Maduro faces a delicate situation after winning a narrow victory in last month's election, which was triggered by Chavez's death.

He fell considerably short of his former boss's resounding election victories, beating his rival by only 1.5 percentage points, and the opposition has refused to recognize the results.

Crime was considered one of the biggest shortcomings of the Chavez government, which was widely admired for expanding access to healthcare, investing in education and providing subsidized groceries for the poor.

The interior ministry recognizes that many of the robberies, homicides and kidnappings are carried out by "mafias" within the police forces themselves.

Experts say the problem is rooted in a dysfunctional justice system, poor working conditions for police officers, and chaotic and gang-controlled prisons.

Maduro, a 50-year-old former bus driver, said he will also seek limits on television programming that promotes violence and a "cult of weapons."

(Reporting by Enrique Andres Pretel; Additional reporting by Diego Oré; Editing by Eric Beech)

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U.S. sends Army planners to Amman but wary of Syria intervention

By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is dispatching Army planners to Jordan as neighboring Syria's conflict worsens, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Wednesday, but he signaled deep misgivings about direct American military intervention in the Syrian civil war.

Hagel told a Senate hearing that the United States has an obligation to think through the consequences of any U.S. military move in Syria and be honest about potential long-term commitments.

His comments were the latest indication that while President Barack Obama's administration continues to plan for various scenarios in Syria, it remains wary of an intervention that could mire America in a proxy war.

"You better be damn sure, as sure as you can be, before you get into something. Because once you're into it, there isn't any backing out, whether it's a no-fly zone, safe zone ... whatever it is," Hagel told senators.

"Once you're in, you can't unwind it. You can't just say, 'Well, it's not going as well as I thought it would go so we're gonna get out.'"

Hagel said the Pentagon was sending an Army headquarters unit to Jordan, bolstering efforts started last year to plan for contingencies related to Syria's chemical weapons and to prevent a spillover of violence across Jordan's border.

A U.S. official told Reuters that the total number of American planners in Jordan would remain roughly at 200 because an existing team is largely being withdrawn.

Still, the deployment of the headquarters unit - which could theoretically command combat troops - was seen as an enhancement over the previous ad hoc team of planners, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In Amman, a Jordanian official said the team would "increase the level of preparedness and defense capabilities in light of the continued deterioration in the Syrian situation."

'ANGRY AND BITTER'

Syria is expected to top the agenda when Hagel leaves on Saturday for a trip to the Middle East that will take him to Jordan as well as Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

"There is a regional consensus I think you will find on your trip, Mr. Secretary, that they want American leadership," Senator John McCain of Arizona, an advocate of U.S. intervention in Syria, said at the hearing.

"And I think if you visited one of the refugee camps or met with the opposition, which I hope you will, they are angry and bitter because we haven't helped them."

March was the bloodiest month yet in a conflict that began as a protest movement against four decades of Assad family rule but has descended into an increasingly sectarian civil war in which at least 70,000 people have been killed.

Sunni Muslim rebels are the backbone of the insurgency, while minorities like the Alawites, from an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, have largely fought with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who can count on support from Russia and Iran.

Western powers, who want to see the end of Assad but do not want to intervene militarily, have been alarmed by the advance of Islamist groups like the Nusra Front in a conflict that has deepened the Middle East's sectarian divide.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, last year had favored the idea of arming Syrian rebels, as did Hagel's predecessor, Leon Panetta, and the heads of the CIA and State Department.

But Obama decided against it. On Wednesday Dempsey said the current opposition presents an even more confusing picture than it did six months ago.

"Now I am more concerned than I was before" about the prospect of arming them, he said.

When pressed whether he would still favor arming rebels, he said: "If we could clearly identify the right people, I would support it."

Assad on Wednesday accused the West of supporting al Qaeda militants in Syria's civil war and warned they would turn against their backers and strike "in the heart of Europe and the United States.

"The West paid heavily for funding al Qaeda in its early stages in Afghanistan," he told Syria's al-Ikhbariya channel, drawing parallels with Western support for anti-Soviet fighters in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

"Today it is supporting it in Syria, Libya and other places, and will pay a heavy price later."

(Additional reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi in Amman, editing by Alistair Bell and Xavier Briand)

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Israeli government sends mixed signals on peace

JERUSALEM (AP) — Ahead of the arrival of President Barack Obama on a high-profile Mideast mission, Israel's new government on Monday sent mixed messages about pursuing peace with the Palestinians.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech to parliament that his hand is outstretched in peace and that he is ready for a "historic compromise," but one of his closest allies called hopes for peace "delusional."

The conflicting signals gave a glimpse of the infighting that is likely to hinder the government if Netanyahu, who has historically been reluctant to make serious concessions to the Palestinians, decides to launch any new diplomatic initiatives.

"The rhetoric about peace is one thing and doing peace is something else. Doing peace requires deeds," Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said of the new Israeli government.

Well aware of the large gaps between the sides, Obama has been careful to lower expectations for the 48-hour visit, which begins Wednesday. The White House has already said he will not bring any bold new initiatives. He will leave the details of diplomacy to his secretary of state, John Kerry, who is expected in the region in the coming weeks.

Instead, Obama plans to meet separately with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in hopes of finding some common ground. Toward that goal, the White House confirmed Monday that the president has added a third, previously unscheduled meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday, immediately after returning from talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. There are no plans for the three to meet together.

Upon taking office in 2009, Obama vowed to make Mideast peace a top priority. But talks never got off the ground, and ultimately Obama turned his attention elsewhere.

The Palestinians have refused to negotiate while Israel continues to build in settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories where they hope to establish a state. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war.

The Palestinians say construction in the areas, now inhabited by more than 500,000 Israelis, is a sign of bad faith. The Palestinians say the pre-1967 lines should be the basis for a future border.

Early in his term, Obama persuaded Israel to impose a partial freeze on settlement construction, allowing talks to resume briefly in late 2010, toward the end of the Israeli moratorium. Netanyahu refused to extend the freeze, and negotiations collapsed weeks later. A frustrated Obama later backed off his calls for a halt in settlement building, leaving the Palestinians disillusioned.

Netanyahu says negotiations should resume without preconditions.

Since winning re-election in January, Netanyahu has pledged to make a new push for peace.

"We extend our hand in peace to the Palestinians," Netanyahu said in Monday's speech, delivered shortly before his new Cabinet was sworn into office. "With a Palestinian partner that is willing to hold negotiations in good will, Israel will be ready for a historic compromise that will end the conflict with the Palestinians once and for all."

Netanyahu gave no details. The Palestinians have suggested he again halt settlement construction or release the longest-held Palestinian prisoners Israel is holding as a goodwill gesture.

Making any significant concession would be a struggle for Netanyahu. The coalition, stitched together during nearly six weeks of negotiations following a Jan. 22 parliamentary election, is focused more on domestic issues than peacemaking. And on the Palestinian issue, his partners include moderates and hard-liners who share little common ground.

On one hand, Netanyahu has appointed Tzipi Livni, a dovish former foreign minister who has good ties with the Palestinians, to be his chief negotiator. His largest coalition partner, Yair Lapid of the centrist Yesh Atid Party, has called for an aggressive attempt to reach peace.

In contrast, the pro-settler Jewish Home Party rejects any concessions to the Palestinians, and Netanyahu's Likud-Yisrael Beitenu bloc itself is dominated by hard-liners. His new defense minister and housing minister, who each wield great influence over Israel's policies in the West Bank, are both sympathetic to the settlers.

Ahead of Netanyahu's speech, Avigdor Lieberman, a powerful ally of the prime minister and himself a West Bank settler, said anyone who thinks peace can be reached with the Palestinians is "delusional."

"This conflict cannot be solved. This conflict needs to be managed," he told his Yisrael Beitenu Party, an ultranationalist faction that has formed a joint parliamentary bloc with Netanyahu's Likud Party. Lieberman said he would fight any attempt to halt settlement construction.

Considering this recipe for deadlock, the Palestinians have shown no optimism over the new Israeli government.

"This is a government of political paralysis. It's also the government that has given the settlers enormous powers," said Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official.

The Israeli election focused heavily on domestic issues, such as the high cost of living and calls to end a contentious system that has allowed ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students to be exempt from compulsory military service.

Addressing his party Monday, Lapid made no mention of the Palestinians, appealing to the ultra-Orthodox to work with him on draft reform.

Netanyahu said that while there is a "golden moment" to deal with domestic issues, his first concern was to protect Israel. He listed a number of security threats to Israel, including Iran's suspect nuclear program, instability in neighboring Egypt, the civil war to Israel's north in Syria and the threat of sophisticated weapons reaching the hands of violent anti-Israel groups.

Zahava Gal-On, leader of the dovish opposition party Meretz, said Jewish settlers were the "big winners" of the election.

"The next government will not make peace, will not narrow social gaps, will not concern itself with equality for all citizens of the state. The next government will continue to do much for the settlers and little for the rest of the Israeli public," she said.

___

Associated Press writer Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed.

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