CARACAS: The Venezuelan army swore in 5,600 soldiers on Saturday, as the United States cranks up military pressure on the oil-producing country.
President Nicolas Maduro has called for stepped-up military recruitment after the United States deployed a fleet of warships and the world’s largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.
American forces have carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 vessels, killing at least 87.
Washington has accused Maduro of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns,” which it declared a terrorist organization last month.
Maduro asserts the American deployment aims to overthrow him and seize the country’s oil reserves.
“Under no circumstances will we allow an invasion by an imperialist force,” Col. Gabriel Rendon said Saturday during a ceremony at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, in Caracas.
According to official figures, Venezuela has around 200,000 troops and an additional 200,000 police officers.
A former opposition governor died in prison on Saturday where he had been detained on charges of terrorism and incitement, a rights group said.
Alfredo Diaz was at least the sixth opposition member to die in prison since November 2024.
They had been arrested following protests sparked by last July’s disputed election, when Maduro claimed a third term despite accusations of fraud.
The protests resulted in 28 deaths and around 2,400 arrests, with nearly 2,000 people released since then.
Diaz, governor of Nueva Esparta from 2017 to 2021, “had been imprisoned and held in isolation for a year; only one visit from his daughter was allowed,” said Alfredo Romero, director of the NGO Foro Penal, which defends political prisoners.
The group says there are at least 887 political prisoners in Venezuela.
Opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado condemned the deaths of political prisoners in Venezuela during “post-electoral repression.”
“The circumstances of these deaths — which include denial of medical care, inhumane conditions, isolation, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment — reveal a sustained pattern of state repression,” Machado said in a joint statement with Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the opposition candidate she believes won the election.
Venezuela swears in 5,600 troops after US military build-up
https://arab.news/vnkva
Venezuela swears in 5,600 troops after US military build-up
- American forces have carried out deadly strikes on more than 20 vessels, killing at least 87
Ex-Syrian intelligence officer appears in UK court charged with crimes against humanity
LONDON: A former member of Syria's Air Force Intelligence attended a British court hearing via videolink on Tuesday charged with crimes against humanity and torture relating to the suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in Damascus in 2011.
Salem Michel Al-Salem, 58, who now lives in Britain, appeared virtually at the hearing at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court from his home. He was wearing a breathing apparatus mask and the court was told he suffered from degenerative motor neurone disease.
Al-Salem is charged with three counts of murder as a crime against humanity relating to deaths in April and July 2011 "as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population with knowledge of the attack".
He is also accused of three charges of torture relating to incidents in 2011 and 2012, and one of conduct ancillary to murder as a crime against humanity. He did not speak during the hearing and there was no indication as to how he would plead.
His lawyer Sean Caulfield told the court that Al-Salem was too unwell to confirm his name.
The seven charges were brought under a British law that allows the prosecution of serious international crimes committed abroad. The Crown Prosecution Service said it was the first time it had brought charges of murder as crimes against humanity.
In 2005, Afghan warlord Faryadi Zardad was convicted by a British court of torture that had taken place in Afghanistan.
Al-Salem, who has sought indefinite leave to remain in Britain, was a colonel in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence department with oversight of the Information Branch in the district of Jobar, to the east of central Damascus, British prosecutors say.
He is accused of leading a group tasked with quelling the demonstrations, which mostly occurred during Friday afternoon prayers. Prosecutors say he gave his men orders to open fire on protesters, which led to the deaths of some individuals.
Prosecutors say he was also present at, or took part in, the torture of men at the Information Branch building.
Al-Salem was first arrested in central England in December 2021. His lawyer had sought an order to withhold his name, arguing it could pose a risk to his safety. England's Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring rejected the application but ordered that his address not be made public.
He will next appear on Friday at London's Old Bailey court.
