Two U.S. Embassy Military Attaches Shot And Wounded At Venezuelan Strip Club

 

Two U.S. Embassy Military Attaches In Venezuela Shot And Wounded At Strip Club -- Daily Mail 

Two U.S. Embassy military attaches in Venezuela have been wounded in a shooting at a well-known strip club in Caracas, local authorities say.

Officers heard shots around 4.25am Tuesday at the Antonella 2012 club, better known as 'Angelus' in the upscale Chacao district, a police source told Reuters.

An employee told Agence France-Presse that the the bar is a strip club that only admits men over age 30.

Pictures of female strippers line the entrance to the club.  

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More News On Two U.S. Embassy Military Attaches Shot And Wounded At A Venezuelan Strip Club  

Two US embassy personnel shot in Venezuela -- AFP
U.S. Military Attache Shot and Injured in Venezuelan Nightclub -- Bloomberg Businessweek
2 U.S. officials shot in Caracas nightclub -- CNN
U.S. Embassy workers hurt in Venezuela strip club shooting -- Reuters
2 US embassy officials injured in Venezuela -- FOX News/AP
Were U.S. officials behaving badly in Latin America again? -- Uri Friedman, Passport/Foreign Policy

President Obama: Idea That American Held By Venezuela Is A Spy 'Ridiculous'

Idea That American Held By Venezuela Is A Spy 'Ridiculous': Obama -- Reuters

(Reuters) - The Venezuelan government's suggestion that an American citizen it has detained is a spy is "ridiculous," U.S. President Barack Obama said in a television interview recorded on Saturday during a visit to Costa Rica.

Venezuela said late last month it had detained an American called Timothy Hallet Tracy, accusing him of financing opposition student demonstrations after April's disputed presidential election and saying he had clearly been trained as an intelligence agent.

Venezuela said Tracy, 35, from Michigan, had received money from a foreign non-profit organization and had redirected those funds toward student organizations, seeking to provoke "civil war".

Relatives and friends of Tracy have described him to U.S. media as a documentary maker who was in Venezuela to make a film about the presidential election.

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My Comment: Venezuela responds.

Venezuelan Expels U.S. Diplomats

Venezuela Expels US Diplomat For 'Espionage' -- Al Jazeera

Venezuela's VP Nicholas Maduro accuses the country's 'historic enemies' of being behind the cancer of the president.

A United States diplomat will be expelled from Venezuela within 24 hours for plotting against the government, Vice President Nicholas Maduro has said.

In a live address to the nation on Tuesday, Maduro said the US embassy military official was being expelled from the country for seeking out active Venezuelan military officials to propose "destabilisation projects."

Maduro identified the Amnerican as the Air Force attache and said he had been spying on the military. US Embassy spokesman Greg Adams identified the attache as David Delmonaco.

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More News On Venezuelan Expelling U.S. Diplomats

Venezuela Expels 2 US Diplomats; Vice President Claims Hugo Chavez was Poisoned -- FOX News Latino
Venezuela to expel U.S. Embassy official -- USA Today
Venezuela orders U.S. Embassy attache to leave country -- L.A. Times
Venezuela expels US embassy official -- Financial Times

Venezuela Detains U.S. Vessel And Crew On Suspicion Of Arms Trafficking

Ocean Atlas

Venezuela Holds U.S. Vessel And Crew On Suspicion Of Arms Trafficking -- Forbes

The Venezuelan government has seized a U.S. flagged ship and detained its captain for more than a week.

Since August 29 the ship Ocean Atlas has been at port in Maracaibo, Venezuela, where it docked to unload a cargo of equipment. Yet after four hours in port, the ship was boarded and searched by armed security personel, and the captain was detained on suspicion of trafficking in arms or drugs.

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More News On Venezuela Detaining A U.S. Vessel And Crew On Suspicion Of Arms Trafficking

Venezuela Arrests U.S. Captain Of Cargo Ship Ocean Atlas -- Huffington Post/Reuters
Venezuela detains captain of U.S. ship, crew members say -- CNN
U.S. Crew of Cargo Ship Said to Be Arrested in Venezuelan Port -- Bloomberg
American cargo ship captain detained at Venezuela port -- FOX News/AP

President Obama: Venezuela's Chavez Is Not A Serious Threat To The U.S.

Obama: Chavez Doesn't Pose Serious Threat To U.S. -- USA Today

President Obama said Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez poses no "serious" national security threat to the United States, comments that are drawing some criticism in South Florida.

"We're always concerned about Iran engaging in destabilizing activity around the globe," Obama told a Spanish language television station based in Miami. "But overall, my sense is that what Mr. Chavez has done over the last several years has not had a serious national security impact on us.

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More News On President Obama's Comment That Hugo Chavez And His Iranian Ties Are Not A Serious Threat To The U.S.

Obama: Hugo Chavez, Iran ties not a ‘serious’ security threat to US -- The Hill
Obama says Hugo Chavez not ‘serious' threat, Rubio pounces -- Yahoo News/ABC News
Obama: Hugo Chávez 'Has Not Had a Serious National Security Impact on Us' -- Weekly Standard
Obama: US closely watching Iran's 'destabilizing activity' in Latin America -- The Hill
Mitt Romney calls Obama comment on Venezuela 'disturbing'; Marco Rubio calls it 'naive' -- Miami Herald
Marco Rubio: Obama ‘naive’ about Chavez -- Politico
Rubio Blasts Obama for Downplaying Venezuelan Leader's Impact on Region -- FOX News
Chavez Not a Threat? Only to Obama -- Jonathan S. Tobin, Commentary

My Comment: Those who have lived in communist(Cuba), authoritarian(Venezuela) Shiite (Iran) ruled regimes will probably have a slightly different point of view.

Why Venezuela Is Concerned About The American Base At Curaco

Curaçao Faces Friction With Chávez Over U.S. Planes -- New York Times

HATO, Curaçao — This small island in the Netherlands Antilles might go unnoticed by its neighbors if not for the importance of the foreign interests it hosts: an American Air Force installation pivotal in fighting the region’s drug trade and a huge refinery that turns Venezuelan oil into gasoline.

Chafing at the American military outpost just 40 miles from Venezuela’s coast, President Hugo Chávez is testing Curaçao’s nerves by repeatedly claiming that the Dutch government, which oversees defense issues here, is letting Washington use Curaçao as a base for planning a possible attack on Venezuela.

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My Comment: It is silly to believe that such a small U.S. base is a strategic threat against Venezuela. Instead .... Venezuela's concerns are focused on U.S. surveillance of cocaine shipments through their country .... a trend that has been increasing as neighboring Colombia continues to curtail and combat narco gangs within its own country.