Raúl Isaías Baduel, who once served as Venezuela’s defense minister, now faces an 8-year prison sentence after being found guilty on corruption charges. He has already been in prison for more than a year, pending the trial’s outcome. Baduel had resigned his position in the government three years ago over concerns about the regime’s direction, including the expansion of President Hugo Chávez’s power.
Those opposed to the Venezuelan government will likely interpret this ruling as another sign that the country’s leaders do not accept alternative viewpoints, even the critiques of its former allies.
In the world of Chávez loyalty is extremely important. You are either with him or against him – and there are often consequences for those who choose this second option. Anyone who signed a petition in support of a vote to recall President Chávez in 2004 were blacklisted and are banned from working for the state after their names were leaked in what is known as Tascon’s List. In the case of Baduel, even though he played a crucial role by enabling Chávez to regain power during the 2002 coup attempt, his opposition to the expansion of the president’s control appears to have been too much to overlook. He is not the first former official of the administration to be imprisoned.
Supporters of Chávez, however, probably do not see these as trumped up accusations against Baduel. Instead, they likely see the impending punishment as just desserts for charges that nearly $4 million of funds were unaccounted for when he was in office.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
