Here’s a report from Human Rights Foundation Bolivia on the Viru Viru assault. It’s in Spanish, but it tries to give as detailed an account of the event as possible, as well as noting that several television images clearly showed Venezuelan troops (plural) inside the airport (though there’s no proof they were directly involved in the operation). The highlights:
According to witnesses: The attack began shortly after 3:40 am, as a surprise raid. A Hercules aircraft landed on the airfield, just before the power was cut. In the dark, airport personnel, unaware of what was going on, were beaten by commandos, who were firing as they entered the premises. The airport personnel were then detained. They were then told that they could return to their posts after 48 hours, if they didn’t contact the press or make the military operation known. At least two airport personnel were injured: Sara Ayala and Jorge Hollweg, the AASANA legal counsel. The report notes that the assault wasn’t accompanied by a legal warrant, and there was no judge present during the operation (a requisite under Bolivian civil law).
Around noon, another Hercules aircraft landed. By then, media had arrived. Chanel 33 “Gigavisión” filmed a number of Venezuelan military personnel on site. Moments later, as the transport minister (José Kinn) was denying the presence of Venezuelan troops in a press conference, a number of them marched past the cameras behind him. This was broadcast by Red Uno & Unitel.
The report then concludes with a number of legal violations, as well as a list of responsible parties.
HRF Bolivia was founded in 2007 in Santa Cruz. It works with the New York based Human Rights Foundation and the Human Rights (DDHH) chapter of the United Nations Association of Bolivia (ANUBOL).
I looked at Human Rights Foundation's web site and I do not think this is the impartial source I'm looking for. What you have written might be true, or not, but this looks like an organization mainly dedicated to opposing Hugo Chavez.
Some of these details, such as the beatings, would be very serious, if true, but they are not yet believable. Let's wait a while.
Yes, HRF is targetting the Chavez regime. So you're right to see them as not entirely unbiased. That said, the images of airport workers bleeding while penned up behind cages surrounded by military personnel were widely distributed, both in newspapers and on Bolivian television.
It's still unclear what **exactly** happened at the airport. But there's little reason to doubt that some people weren't injured. All press reports put the number at 10-12 "injured" (including two soldiers).
John: Do you think these people have an axe to grind?
Kenneth Anderson, Álvaro Vargas Llosa, Vladimir Bukovsky, Ramón J. Velásquez, Palden Gyatso, Elie Wiesel, Garry Kasparov, James Q. Wilson, Mart Laar, Harry Wu, Armando Valladares. They are the members of the board and proponents of liberal democracy and human rights.
More credible--Reporters Without Borders. http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=24158
"Journalists continue to be victims of political tension : six injured in retaking of Santa Cruz airport"
But now criticism of Reporters Without Borders. http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=60&ItemID=14224
I should have known . . .