HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
Venezuelan Leader Forced to Resign By JORGE RUEDA Associated Press Writer Published April 12, 2002, 12:38 AM CDT CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela's military leadership forced President Hugo Chavez to resign Friday after a day of violence in which National Guard troops and pro-Chavez gunmen clashed with 150,000 opposition protesters, the Globovision television station reported. At least 13 people were killed and as many as 110 wounded in the violence. Globovision said Chavez handed his resignation to three generals at the presidential palace. The report could not be immediately confirmed. A motorcade left the palace minutes later, apparently headed for Caracas' La Carlota military base, Globovision said. The report came after Armed Forces Chief of Staff Bernabe Carrero Cubero said Venezuela's military leadership asked Chavez to resign and call elections. Carrero Cubero said Chavez had asked him to negotiate with rebellious officers "to avoid a blood bath." Chavez's supporters gathered outside the presidential palace upon word their leader was leaving. El Universal newspaper reported that Pedro Carmona, president of the Fedecamaras business chamber, had accepted a military offer to lead a transitional government. The report couldn't be immediately confirmed, but Union Radio reported that Carmona, Rincon and retired Gen. Guaicaipuro Lameda, former head of the state oil monopoly, had entered Fort Tiuna, Caracas' main army base, early Friday. Defense Minister Jose Vicente Rangel had asked for asylum at the Chilean Embassy, El Universal said. Dissident National Guard troops, meanwhile, seized the government television station. The head of the state security police said he'd ordered his forces to remain in their barracks. A spokesman for Oil Minister Alvaro Silva said Chavez had spent Thursday evening meeting with his ministers at the presidential palace. Small tanks arrived outside the palace late Thursday, adding to tensions in a city already racked by the day's violence, in which National Guard troops clashed with pro-Chavez gunmen and participants in a 150,000-strong opposition march. The Jose Maria Vargas hospital said Thursday that 12 people were killed and as many as 110 wounded. Jorge Tortoza, a 45-year-old photographer with Diario 2001 newspaper, later died of a gunshot wound, the newspaper confirmed Friday. Tortoza was shot in the face by a man in civilian clothing while he was covering the protest, said reporter Angel Arraez. Chavez's family flew from a Caracas military base to the western city of Barquisimeto earlier Thursday, said Air Force Col. Marcos Salas. Army Cmdr. Gen. Efrain Vasquez Velasco ordered his subordinates -- including Chavez loyalists -- to join him in rebellion against Chavez and said military bases throughout the nation were under the dissidents' control. "We ask the Venezuelan people's forgiveness for today's events," he said. "Mr. President, I was loyal to the end, but today's deaths cannot be tolerated." More than 40 other high officers rebelled, including Gen. Luis Alberto Camacho Kairuz, vice minister for citizen security. Earlier Thursday, Chavez ordered five private Caracas television stations to close for allegedly inciting opposition protests that erupted in violence. The stations continued transmitting by satellite, however, and some were able to re-establish their signals intermittently to report on the violence and casualties. The Organization of American States demanded the restrictions be lifted. "The Constitution obliges us to maintain internal order and avoid more spilling of blood and the destruction of our brave people and their institutions," the officers said in a communique read by Navy Vice Adm. Hector Ramirez. Earlier, 11 other generals, admirals and commanders of the armed forces declared themselves in rebellion. None had active commands, palace officials said. But Gen. Carlos Alfonso Martinez, inspector general of the National Guard, condemned the armed pro-Chavez civilian groups known as "Bolivarian Circles" for firing on civilians. National Guard troops fired tear gas at the front ranks of marchers bearing sticks and throwing rocks to keep them about 100 yards away from the palace and thousands of Chavez supporters. Tear gas drifted into the presidential compound. Multiple shots were fired near the palace, and scuffles with police erupted throughout downtown. Witnesses said snipers belonging to pro-Chavez street groups fired on crowds from rooftops; Caracas Fire Department Cmdr. Rodolfo Briceno charged that snipers fired on ambulance crews as they tried to evacuate the wounded. Pena accused government snipers of firing on crowds, especially at opposition demonstrators. "Chavez has shown his true face. This dictator's apprentice brutally ordered the repression of a peaceful demonstration," Pena claimed. "This is state terrorism. The international community must condemn these killings. This government is criminal," said Ramon Escobar Salon, a former attorney general. Luis Miquilena, Chavez's longtime mentor and a powerful interior minister until earlier this year, denounced the repression. Globovision television displayed videotape of what it said was Chavez supporters shooting civilians at random near the palace. The violence erupted on the third day of a general strike called to support oil executives who want Chavez to sack new management he appointed at the state oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela. The executives are conducting a work slowdown that has seriously cut production and exports in Venezuela, the No. 3 oil supplier to the United States. Copyright � 2002, The Associated Press __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
