Wife of 87-year-old Venezuelan ex-president calls attempt to extradite him ridiculous

Ex-leader won’t return to Venezuela, wife says

CARACAS, Venezuela — The wife of former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez ridiculed an attempt to extradite her husband from the United States, suggesting that President Hugo Chavez is attempting to create a spectacle to distract from domestic problems.

Cecilia Matos said in a telephone interview from Miami on Friday that the 87-year-old former president will not return to Venezuela to be tried on charges stemming from violence during 1989 protests.

“We are not going to go into the circus Chavez wants. What he wants is a circus because he has such a bad reputation,” Matos told The Associated Press. “We aren’t going to be the clowns.”

In a ruling Thursday, Venezuela’s Supreme Court cleared the way for Chavez’s government to request Perez’s extradition.

Perez has lived in Florida for years and is wanted on charges of intentional homicide stemming from violence that erupted during 1989 protests over gasoline and transportation prices.

Chavez has called for Perez and others to face justice.

Prosecutors allege Perez ordered a harsh crackdown during the protests in which at least 300 people died. Rights activists say many were shot indiscriminately by security forces during the unrest known as the “Caracazo.”

Perez — who governed Venezuela from 1974 to 1979 and again from 1989 to 1993 — is also wanted on corruption charges. He has maintained he is innocent.

Matos, who has often spoken for her husband since he suffered a stroke in 2003, said she doubts the government will get anywhere with its attempt to jail Perez.

A statement released by Perez’s office accused the Supreme Court of doing Chavez’s bidding. It suggested the socialist president should be tried for allegedly cooperating with “narco-terrorists” and for purportedly attempting to kill Perez and his family during Chavez’s failed 1992 coup.

It is unclear how the government may proceed in the case, or how soon it could act to request Perez’s extradition.

Opposition politician Henry Ramos, an ally of Perez, said the former president is in poor health and in no shape to be tried.

Matos said her husband has not had further complications following the stroke.

Prosecutors have also brought charges against retired Gen. Italo del Valle Aliegro, the defense minister at the time of the 1989 protests, accusing him of ordering killings and violating international agreements.

Last year, authorities opened some tombs in Caracas seeking to identify the remains of dozens of people killed during the riots and to look for evidence against police and soldiers.