Chavez bars entry to Walesa

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez has said that Polish Solidarity union leader and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Lech Walesa will be denied entry to Venezuela if he attempts to lend his support to opposition groups. Via VHeadline.com:

Calling Walesa an "Idol with feet made of mud," President Chavez went on national television to admonish the Foreign Minister:  "Nicolas, beware! Evaluate and give me recommendations on how to react!" The text of the President's speech was also made available in a transcript of the broadcast circulated by the Venezuelan Ministry of Communication & Information (Minci), which is generally seen as the government's mouthpiece.

• According to the Minci text Chavez said "We are obliged to demand respect for Venezuela's dignity. He (Walesa) can say whatever he wants abroad, but NOT in here in Venezuela."  Chavez also claimed that the former Polish President is part of an international "plot that aims to generate a violent path" to overthrow his revolutionary government.

Markelov/Baburova murders: theories

The Other Russia has published an article by Olga Malysh which examines the various theories concerning the theories that surround the murders of Stanisalv Markelov and Anastasia Baburova. Essentially, Malysh sees the killings as a further stage in the eclipse of civil society in Russia, and as a terrible warning. Excerpt:

Guessing at why Stanislav Markelov was killed is pointless and fruitless.  He was involved in a multitude of high-profile cases.  He could have had enemies from practically every one of them.  Stanislav was a lawyer for the Kungayeva family, which means he was connected with the scandalous case of [Yury] Budanov.  In his time, Markelov represented the interests of the Chechen family in the case of Sergei Lapin (radio call sign “Cadet”), who was accused of torturing Grozny resident Zelimkhan Murdalov.  He was the attorney for Anna Politkovskaya, the victims in Blagoveshchensk (Rus), and “Nord-Ost”.  He fought for the right of amnesty for a Chechen resident, Musikhanov, who refused to serve under [Chechen President Ramzan] Kadyrov.  One can’t list everything.

Recently, Markelov had spoken as a lawyer for Mikhail Beketov, the editor-in-chief of the Khimkinskaya Pravda newspaper who was all but killed in the fall of last year.  Incidentally, they were friends.  The deceased lawyer wasn’t afraid of directly implicating the Khimki city administration in the attack on the journalist.  They say Stanislav was even conducting his own investigation.

Another critical detail – Markelov defended many activists in the Antifa [anti-fascist] movement.   Specifically, he took part in the murder cases of 19-year-old Alexander Ryukhin, teenager and skateboard enthusiast Stas Korepanov, and ecologist and anti-fascist Ilya Borodaenko by right wing [nationalist] radicals.  He was the attorney for the family of anti-fascist Alexei Krylov, and represented Alexei Olesinov, the Moscow leader of Antifa accused of hooliganism, in court.