Hillside crashes down on farmers; 5 die, 18 missing Top US diplomat in Venezuela under fire for tough comments
INDONESIA: Farmers were working in their rice paddies on the Indonesian island of Java when a soggy hillside above them collapsed under the weight of torrential rain, killing five people and leaving rescuers digging for 18 missing.
Survivors described a sudden roar as yesterday’s landslide was unleashed, sweeping trees and everything else in its path towards the terraced rice fields below.
‘‘The hill above us looked like it was spinning down,’' said Watirah, a 53-year-old farmer from Pasir Panjang village, who with other villagers from the affected hamlet in Central Java’s Brebes district tried to outrun the sliding earth.
‘‘I tried to keep going, tried to stand up and screamed loudly for help before I fell again,’' said Watirah, who goes by a single name. ‘‘I felt my body was so weak I couldn’t stand up, but three people came to save me,’' she said.
Her husband, Minarto, who was working in a nearby field, also narrowly survived.
Hundreds of rescuers, including soldiers and villagers, used their hands and farm tools to search for victims buried beneath tonnes of mud and soil. They had difficulty finding victims because of the unstable conditions and the width of the landslide.
‘‘Heavy equipment cannot be used,’' said National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. – AP VENEZUELA: The head of Venezuela’s government-controlled assembly yesterday accused the top United States diplomat in Caracas of promoting a coup, and threatened to take ‘‘corresponding diplomatic measures’' against him, but stopped short of saying he would be expelled.
National Constituent Assembly President Delcy Rodriguez issued a series of tweets targeting US charge d’affaires Todd Robinson. They followed the release of an interview he gave to a local online publication critical of the Venezuelan government.
Relations have long been tense between the US and Venezuela, an oil-rich country in a deepening political and economic crisis.
Robinson told the publication RunRunes that it was possible that Washington could ratchet up sanctions against Venezuela’s critical oil sector, on top of sanctioning dozens of key government officials, such as President Nicolas Maduro.
‘‘Everything is on the table,’' Robinson said. ‘‘Undoubtedly, the sanctions have been effective so far at identifying members of the regime who are corrupt or those who have played a role against Venezuela’s institutions and constitution.’'
Robinson criticised the electoral process ahead of presidential elections on April 22, when Maduro will seek a second term. He said Venezuela’s military had a large influence on the country’s future, but he walked a fine line, adding that, as a diplomat, he would ‘‘never support a coup’’.
Pushing back, Rodriguez said the National Constituent Assembly would evaluate Robinson’s comments before adopting ‘‘corresponding diplomatic measures in defence of the sovereignty and dignity of Venezuelan’s people’'.
She accused Robinson of violating international law, and said he was guilty of being ignorant about Venezuela. She stopped short of stripping Robinson’s diplomatic credentials – action taken in recent disputes with key diplomats from Canada, Brazil and Spain.
In his long diplomatic career, Robinson has worked in Colombia, Bolivia, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. He earned a reputation for speaking out as ambassador to Guatemala, and several times faced calls for his expulsion.
Days after his arrival in Caracas less than three months ago, the US Embassy posted a comment on Twitter calling the new National Constituent Assembly ‘‘illegitimate’', saying it engaged in undemocratic practices and was ‘‘inventing rules’'. –AP