Venezuelan Agents Arrest Mayor of Opposition Bastion Town

Venezuelan Agents Arrest Mayor of Opposition Bastion Town

Thursday March 20th, 2014 at 6:02 AM

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March 19, 2014 11:58 p.m. ET

The mayor of San Cristóbal, Venezuela, Daniel Ceballos, appeared at a rally on Tuesday. European Pressphoto Agency

CARACAS, Venezuela—Venezuela's secret police arrested the mayor of an opposition bastion on Wednesday as President Nicolás Maduro's administration extended a crackdown on protests that have shaken the oil-rich country for six weeks.

Agents arrested Daniel Ceballos, the mayor of the western city of San Cristóbal, where demonstrations against the government began in early February. The city has become the site of the fiercest showdowns between street protesters and security forces, even as the size of demonstrations decline and show signs of fatigue in other places like the capital, Caracas.

"It's an act of justice against a mayor, who not only stopped complying with his obligations under the law and constitution, but facilitated and helped all the irrational violence in San Cristóbal," Interior Minister Miguel Rodríguez said on state television, announcing the arrest. He said Mr. Ceballos would be charged in court.

Mr. Ceballos "has nothing to hide," his lawyer, Ana Leonor Acosta, said in a statement put out by the mayor's political party, Popular Will. The party condemned the arrest as a "kidnapping." They said he was taken away by several armed officials with their faces covered, on unclear charges, as he was taking part in a meeting at a hotel in Caracas. The party called it an "arbitrary" action and said that it followed a series of arrest orders put out for officials of the political movement.

Analysts say the arrest could inflame the opposition and breathe new life into the protest movement, which has claimed about 30 lives. Rights groups say the majority of the victims have been demonstrators killed at the hands of police and pro-government forces.

But security forces, too, have suffered casualties. On Wednesday, the attorney general's office said it was investigating the death of a 23-year-old National Guardsman, who was shot and killed while breaking up a protest outside of a military university in San Cristóbal.

Mr. Ceballos is the second high-profile opposition politician to be jailed for allegedly inciting the civil unrest gripping the country. Last month, Leopoldo López, another top opposition official, was arrested and remains in a military prison for allegedly inciting the protests. Critics say Mr. Lopez's detention is an attempt by Mr. Maduro's regime to reverse the antigovernment movement.

"What does the government want with the fascist detention of San Cristóbal Mayor Daniel Ceballos, peace or war?" opposition leader Henrique Capriles, said in a message on Twitter. He warned that the decision would intensify the conflict and accused Mr. Maduro of wanting "more confrontation and to promote violence in the whole country."

On Tuesday the National Assembly, dominated by Mr. Maduro's Socialist Party, requested the attorney general's office strip opposition congresswoman María Corina Machado of parliamentary immunity to begin an investigation of her alleged involvement in inciting the recent violence.

Ms. Machado has been among the most vocal critics of the government, calling for Mr. Maduro's immediate exit and pushing for international condemnation of the Venezuelan government's crackdown. On Friday, Ms. Machado is scheduled to speak at the Organization of American States in Washington.

Protests began in the western state of Tachira last month as students voiced frustration with Venezuela's rampant crime problem, but the movement has since grown to address what the opposition says is the government's economic mismanagement, which has resulted in an inflation rate approaching 60% and widespread shortages of food and basic goods.

A parking attendant at the hotel said Mr. Ceballos was whisked away by four to six men in dark clothing.

In the upscale Caracas districts of Altamira and Chacao, news of Mr. Ceballos's arrest sparked an immediate reaction, with residents marching and banging on pots and pans, a comment form of protest in Latin America.

"What is he accused of? Why is he arrested? From what I can tell his only crime is thinking differently from the government," said a resident, Roger Vargas. "If the government keeps tightening the noose, there won't be peace in this country."

Mr. Rodríguez, the interior minister, said Mr. Ceballos' detention would be a step toward restoring calm and normalcy in the country.

"The path to peace is justice," he said.

Some outside observers had a different perspective...