February 21, 2010
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Feb. 21 in a newspaper article he wrote that the government will create peasant-based militias through the country’s rural and agricultural regions. Chavez said that the groups, organized by the Venezuelan military, will be responsible for protecting poor farmers from vigilante groups allegedly hired and organized by wealthy landowners. The militias will also be tasked with helping the military prepare for any possible foreign invasion.
