VENEZUELA: Pleasant Exile

Bright and chipper as a schoolboy the first day of vacation, Marcos Pérez Jiménez, 45, ex-dictator of Venezuela, bounced into the Miami office of State Attorney Richard Gerstein to do some explaining. A Caracas columnist had written that Pérez Jiménez pays $500 monthly for protection to the Miami Beach Police Chief, and Gerstein wanted to know all about it. Pérez Jiménez denied that he paid the police chief anything, but admitted that he hires off-duty Miami cops and pays them a total of $1,025 monthly. He needs the cops for protection against homicidal enemies and to bear witness that...

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