The Venezuelan government admitted that human rights...

The Venezuelan government admitted that human rights violations, including summary executions of looters by troops, might have occurred in the aftermath of the devastating mudslides. Reversing an official stance that challenged the credibility of local human rights groups and media reports, Foreign Minister Jose Vicente Rangel admitted to reporters "the existence of such human rights abuses would not be unusual". Human rights organisations Provea and Cofavic said they had received at least 20 reports of summary executions by troops in the central Caribbean state of Vargas. The Provea report, which the rights group acknowledged was "incomplete and difficult to verify," cited testimony that said presumed looters were forced to kneel and then shot to death by soldiers.