Rick Rozoff
Sat, 13 Apr 2002 14:05:39 -0700
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
Protests Delay New Venezuelan Gov't By Andrew Selsky Associated Press Writer Saturday, April 13, 2002; 5:09 PM CARACAS, Venezuela –– Protests erupted in Caracas and other cities demanding the return of ousted President Hugo Chavez, and a military base rebelled Saturday against Venezuela's new government, forcing the interim president to postpone inaugurating his Cabinet. A high-ranking official in the new government told journalists about the rebellion in the central city of Maracay and said talks to quell it were "difficult." Venezuela's armed forces, including its air force equipped with F-16 fighters, are concentrated in Maracay. One of the rebelling officers was identified as Air Force Gen. Raul Baduel, who commands the F-16 airbase, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, moments before journalists were expelled from the presidential palace and President Pedro Carmona postponed the swearing-in of his Cabinet. Another military commander, army Gen. Julio Garcia Montoya, said in a telephone interview with Cuban television that the constitution must be followed, that Chavez's Vice President Diosdado Cabello be named interim president, and that elections be held within one month. "We don't recognize de facto juntas," Garcia said, and called on Venezuelan citizens to maintain calm. Venezuelan TV and many radio stations did not carry his comments, and have not reported on Saturday's disturbances. Hundreds of Chavez supporters rallied outside the palace, demanding his return. Police used tear gas to push them back, while repeated gunfire was heard in the nearby Catia slum, a Chavez stronghold. Chavez was ousted by Venezuela's military on Friday after National Guard troops and pro-Chavez gunmen clashed at an opposition rally of some 150,000 people. At least 16 people were killed and some 350 wounded, authorities said Saturday. Chavez's exact whereabouts weren't known. His daughter, Ana Gabriela Chavez, told Cuban television in a telephone interview that Chavez may have been taken to the Venezuelan island of La Orchila in the Caribbean and that he had been mistreated by his captors. Chavez's family, supporters and former government officials insisted he never resigned, as Carmona and Venezuela's high command claimed. The Organization of American States said it was sending a delegation to Venezuela on Sunday to assess the situation and that the OAS General Assembly will meet Wednesday on the matter. In Caracas, downtown shopkeepers hurriedly closed as word of isolated disruptions spread. At least 20 "small" disturbances were reported in Caracas, the new government said. Unrest also was reported in Maracay, Guarenas, Los Teques and Coro. Police shot tear gas, including in front of the presidential palace, at spontaneous pro-Chavez demonstrations in wide areas of this tropical city of 5 million. Protesters, chanting "Chavez will be back!" and "Democracy, not dictatorship," dispersed, then reformed under a haze of tear gas. "We want to see Chavez. The Venezuelan people don't buy it that he has resigned," shouted Maria Brito, a 36-year-old demonstrator. Some 500 Chavez supporters marched overnight on the army fort where Chavez was initially held, facing off with soldiers and tanks, witnesses said. Troops fired rubber bullets, injuring some protesters, said Maria Brito, a demonstrator. A military source said Chavez would be moved from Fort Tiuna to an unknown destination. In contrast to Chavez's strained relations with the United States, Venezuela's new foreign minister-designate said Saturday he wants tight relations with Washington and called Colombian rebels "double enemies of humanity." In an interview with The Associated Press, Jose Rodriguez denied that Friday's swearing in of Carmona was a coup in disguise. Mexico, Argentina and Paraguay are among other Latin American countries that have denounced Venezuela's new government as illegitimate. "I don't think this has been viewed objectively," Rodriguez said. "Here there was no military action, nor is the military in power." "What we need to explain before our colleagues in the continent is that this is not a coup, although the situation is obviously not normal, legally and constitutionally, as we would wish," Rodriguez said in the interview in Caracas' century-old presidential palace. Although several Latin American leaders denounced the irregular transition of power in Venezuela, the Bush administration said Chavez was responsible for his own ouster because of attempts to violently suppress Thursday's demonstration against him. Chavez had ordered National Guard troops and civilian gunmen, including rooftop snipers, to fire on the marchers, military officers said. A pathologist at the Caracas morgue said 30 bodies had been brought to the morgue overnight and into Saturday, most with bullet wounds. How the people were killed was not immediately clear. Government security forces continued searching for members of "Bolivarian Circles" – Chavez supporters who allegedly are armed – and for more than 1,000 rifles that were stolen earlier from a police station. Carmona on Friday abolished Venezuela's Constitution, the Congress, the Supreme Court, the attorney general's office and the comptroller's office. He said general elections would be held within a year. "There is an undeclared state of emergency in Venezuela," insisted Willian Lara, president of the Congress abolished Friday. "All legal norms have been violated, public institutions dissolved," Lara told the AP. Lara said police were searching homes of Chavez administration officials and detaining former government officials without warrants. Opposition resentment toward Chavez, a former paratrooper who in 1992 led a botched coup attempt and who was elected in 1998 on an anti-poverty platform, had been building for months. His term was to end in 2006. Six weeks ago, managers at the state oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela began protesting a reshuffle of the company board by Chavez. The protests eventually triggered a general strike last week and Thursday's march, and they severely disrupted exports from the world's No. 4 oil producer. Carmona, the 60-year-old head of Venezuela's largest business chamber, played a key role in the general strike. After becoming interim president, he suspended 48 laws decreed by Chavez that increased the state's role in the economy. He also named an interim Cabinet of politicians previously allied with the opposition. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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