Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announced on live television Nov. 27 that he would not permit "foreign commandos" to be contracted by opposition politicians, in response to rumors that the newly elected governor of Miranda state, Henrique Capriles Radonski, is planning to bring in Israeli military advisors to train the local police. In a telephone interview with the state TV program Dando y Dando, Chávez asserted that to take such a move without permission of the national government would violate the constitution. (Apporea.org, Venezuela, Nov. 27)

In the prelude to his election as governor last weekend, Chávez had lambasted Capriles Radonski as a "fascist," an "oligarch" and a "pantallero" (show-off?). (Unión Radio, Nov. 17)

Note that it has already been determined that Israeli mercenaries have worked with the right-wing paramilitaries in neighboring Colombia.

See our last post on Venezuela.