Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Vatican offices targeted in Venezuela

Days after the vandalizing and desecration of Caracas’ oldest synagogue, assailants have targeted the Vatican mission in the Venezuelan capital:
Tear gas canisters were lobbed into the Vatican's diplomatic compound in Caracas on Wednesday, the head of the mission said, days after armed men vandalized a synagogue in the capital...

Venezuelan media said two canisters landed inside the compound and two fell outside.

"We totally reject these actions, they cannot be permitted," Giacinto Berloco, who heads the mission, told Reuters.
A spokesman at the Israeli Foreign Ministry insinuated that Venezuela’s government was behind the attack on the synagogue though that was vehemently denied by Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro. Pro- and anti-government factions have accused each other of perpetrating the attack on the Israeli Association of Venezuela on Saturday.

The incident has caught the attention of several U.S. legislators. A group of sixteen Republican and Democratic congressmen wrote to Hugo Chávez and urged him to "end to the intimidation and harassment of the Jewish community" in Venezuela.

Image- AFP (“Men look on at the damage caused by an unknown group inside the main synagogue of Caracas.”)
Online Sources- Reuters, Bloomberg, Xinhua, Guardian UK, MSNBC

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