CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan intelligence agents have questioned the author of a newspaper crossword puzzle, and even some supporters of the government are ridiculing allegations the words he chose might be coded calls for a plot to kill the elder brother of President Hugo Chavez.
State TV presenter Miguel Perez Pirela raised the accusation, pointing out that Wednesday’s crossword puzzle in the newspaper Ultimas Noticias contained the words “ASESINEN,” or kill, along with the name of Chavez’s brother, “ADAN.”
Neptali Segovia is an English teacher who prepares crossword puzzles for the newspaper. He says it’s ridiculous to think there was a hidden code in the puzzle.
Nestor Francia, a writer who favors Chavez’s government, criticized the allegation, asking in an article what sort of “cheap spy movie” would tout such a theory.
