Halloween pumpkin: the new piñata?

It would seem that the manifestations of social and political unrest are forever changing and being adapted to the season. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's security services have had to tackle new threats in the last couple of weeks...

First came the scores of cardboard skeletons with anti-Chávez messages hanging from bridges and lampposts in Caracas. The police are hot on the trail of the culprits who (using their highly deductive powers) they believe to be student and probably middle-class students at that. I'll say. A group calling themselves Cambio (Change in Spanish) have claimed responsibility for this act and denied any intention to harm anybody. Nonetheless, police approached the cardboard cut-outs wearing protective gear, just in case.

And then came the pumpkins, carrying messages of rebellion.

(REUTERS) Local media showed heavily armed police and bomb experts surrounding one orange squash with a Halloween face and covered with stickers; others sprouted cables and wires making authorities wary they could be home-made explosives.

"We took preventative measures, as this could have been someone with another intention or an artifact that could have harmed someone," Investigative police division commissioner Jesus Gonzalez told local radio.

The pumpkins were found outside the state petrochemical company Pequiven and the offices of Chávez's political party with references to a constitutional article about civil resistance, local media reported. Chávez opponents often refer to Article 350 when calling for support of street protests.

Police described them as a "Machiavellian" attempt to cause unrest.

Machiavellian indeed. Maybe President Chávez who has apparently already cut his coffee intake from 26 espressos a day to 16 need to chill a bit more. A military court has already sentenced three Venezuelan former military officers and 27 Colombians today. Prison terms are ranging from 2 to 9 years for an alleged plot to kill the President.

As an aside, it looks like the "revolutionary doll" is going to be a must this Christmas in Caracas. Eek.

Categories: Venezuela; Chavez; Politics; Halloween