MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Former Chavez ally and now opponent arrested on corruption charges

Chavez and Baduel in the good old times

Former Venezuelan Defence minister General Raúl Baduel accused President Hugo Chavez of ordering his detention to try to intimidate him and insisted he's innocent of corruption charges which are politically motivated.

The retired General said before being led into a military court on Friday that his detention was “a cowardly action ordered by Hugo Chavez.” He told the Venezuelan broadcaster Union Radio that Chavez is trying to intimate him due to his outspoken opposition.

Top military prosecutor General Ernesto Cedeno said Baduel was detained due to concerns he could attempt to flee or obstruct the investigation. He added that Baduel, who was detained on Thursday, is under investigation for about 18.6 million US dollars that allegedly went missing between 2006 and 2007 while he was Defence minister.

Authorities have not announced any formal charge against Baduel who denied the prosecutor's accusation and said what the case against him has done is “strengthen our conviction to keep defending democracy”.

General Baduel had been a close confidant of Mr. Chávez for years (1983) but broke with him in 2007 after the president proposed a broad constitutional overhaul that would have expanded his powers. Chávez won a referendum in February allowing him to run for re-election as often as he likes.

The arrest of General Baduel came after Manuel Rosales, the most visible face of the opposition, went into hiding this week to avoid political persecution as he faces charges of illicit enrichment, opposition leaders said.

In a most uncharacteristic manner for the slow moving Venezuelan justice system, the trial of Mayor Manuel Rosales of Maracaibo on corruption charges dating back to his days as governor of Zulia state earlier this decade has been scheduled to start on April 20.

Rosales, whose party, Un Nuevo Tiempo, announced earlier this week that he had gone into hiding to “safeguard” his physical wellbeing, will face charges stemming from alleged misuse of state funds between 2002 and 2004. On conviction, he could face a prison sentence of three to 10 years.

Prosecutors are reported to have drawn up a case consisting of 26 points, 12 originating from their own investigation and the other 14 submitted by Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russián. Russián is an object of opposition suspicion after banning 270 individuals, mostly critics of President Hugo Chávez, from running for or holding public office.

The trial was originally to take place in Zulia, but was abruptly transferred at the first hearing there to Caracas. This was after Attorney General Luisa Díaz Ortega claimed there could be “irregularities” if the case was heard in Rosales’ home state.

Rosales, who unsuccessfully challenged Chávez for the presidency at the elections in 2006, has become a centrepiece for the opposition. There’s speculation that efforts will be made to issue an arrest warrant for Rosales after a petition to the effect was included in the case first brought by prosecutor Katiuska Plaza in Zulia.