It's not over 'till the fat lady sings. Chavez should have saved his life and left when he had a chance, next time they'll just shoot his sorry a$$ and make sure he can't take over again.
Posted on 04/14/2002 6:27:17 AM PDT by rightwing2
Ousted Venezuela president returns
Chavez, freed, reclaim soffice from which he was ousted
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CARACAS, Venezuela, April 14 — Hugo Chavez was freed by his military captors and returned to reclaim the Venezuelan presidency Sunday, in a dramatic restoration of power two days after the military said he had resigned. Chavez stepped down from a helicopter, smiled and raised his fist in triumph as a greeted hundreds of cheering supporters outside the Miraflores presidential palace. Thousands in the street beyond began singing the Venezuelan national anthem.
HIS RETURN SHORTLY after 3 a.m. followed the resignation of Pedro Carmona, who resigned amid violent protests after just one day in office as interim president of Venezuela, the No. 3 supplier of oil to the United States.
Chavez’s vice president, Diosdado Cabello, had declared himself acting president until Chavez’s return from military custody. He appeared healthy and hugged supporters as a military band played. Chavez’s family, supporters and former government officials insisted he never resigned as president, as Carmona and Venezuela’s high command claimed.
In a largely conciliatory speech, Chavez later told a news conference he had not been mistreated and recognized that both his government and his opponents had made mistakes. “There isn’t going to be any retaliation, no witch hunt. I haven’t any thirst for revenge,” Chavez said, calling for his supporters who rioted on the streets in support of his return on Saturday to go quietly back to their homes. State prosecutors were interviewing Carmona and several senior military officers at the Fuerte Tiuna military base, even though they were not formally under arrest, Chavez’s defense minister, Jose Vicente Rangel, said.
INTERNATIONAL ASSESSMENT
The Organization of American States was sending a delegation to Venezuela to assess the situation. Chavez is a former army paratrooper who led a failed 1992 coup but was elected in 1998 on an anti-poverty platform. His term was to end in 2006. Chavez’s attorney general, Isaias Rodriguez, told Carmona’s ministers they were under arrest pending possible charges. “They must take responsibility. They will be put on trial with all their rights, but they will be put on trial,” Cabello said. Some military officials also would be tried for military rebellion, he said. Instantly returning to his old talkative form, Chavez gave a rambling hour-long monologue that ended shortly before dawn broke over the troubled capital. He illustrated his promises of respect for the law by waving a small blue copy of the country’s constitution and held up a crucifix he had taken with him into captivity. Chavez recalled how he had washed his own socks and underwear and said the popular protests and army mutinies in his favor marked a historic triumph for the Venezuelan people. “I never for a moment doubted that we would return. But I never thought we would return so quickly,” he said.
Statements by military generals that he had resigned and asked to be sent abroad were lies, he said. “They put a piece of paper on the table saying “Resign,” but I said, “I am a president being held prisoner, but I am not resigning.”
CHAVEZ SUPPORTERS RALLY
Tens of thousands of people surrounded the presidential palace Sunday after news of Carmona’s resignation. They set off powerful fireworks as they waited for Chavez’s anticipated return from military custody. “Chavez is coming! Chavez is coming!” said Dario Fereira, an unemployed man wearing a tattered shirt. Chavez administration officials — many of whom had evaded dozens of police raids under Carmona’s brief reign — and loyalist military officers hugged each other in the palace’s marble-floored courtyard.
“In these past two days they have persecuted us,” said Rafael Ramirez, president of the state-run national gasoline company. Unshaved and with red-rimmed eyes, Ramirez said he had hidden in friend’s homes after Chavez’s arrest on Friday. Asked about the turnaround, Ramirez said: “It’s marvelous because the Venezuelan people responded to this illegal coup attempt.” Chavez’s labor minister, Maria Cristina Iglesias, said Chavez was kept on Orchila Island off the Venezuelan coast. Just hours earlier, interim president Carmona — a businessman and co-leader of a general strike called last week against Chavez — announced he had resigned.
RECENT DAYS DEADLY
Carmona was named president by the military high command Friday, hours after generals arrested Chavez for allegedly ordering gunmen to fire on a massive opposition protest on Thursday. Sixteen died and hundreds were wounded in the melee. Dozens more died in rioting and looting on Saturday. Thursday’s march capped a general strike called to support oil executives who were protesting a Chavez-appointed board of directors at the state oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela. A work slowdown by the executives severely cut production and exports in Venezuela. Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena said at least nine people were killed and 40 wounded Saturday. But an Associated Press reporter witnessed dozens of bodies at city hospitals.
“We have every right to protest, but they are gunning us down out there,” said Edgar Paredes, his clothes soaked in blood as he brought his wounded brother to a hospital. He didn’t know who shot Luis, and probably never will. Like most violent demonstrations here, gunfire can erupt from any side, at any time.
Demonstrators supporting Chavez — or opposed to the way he was ousted — forced Carmona to step down. The commander of a strategic air base in the central city of Maracay rebelled Saturday, setting in motion nationwide protests demanding Chavez’s return. Thousands took to the streets, taking over state TV, to demand that Chavez be reinstalled. Signaling a split in the armed forces, several military commanders refused to accept Carmona’s appointment.
Some Latin American leaders denounced Friday’s irregular transition of power. The United States said Chavez was responsible for his own ouster because of attempts to violently suppress a Thursday opposition demonstration in which gunmen fired upon a 150,000-strong march. At the palace, supporters displayed a huge poster of Chavez lit by floodlights. A military brass band stood at the ready. Red-bereted soldiers with automatic rifles paced through the hallways; others pumped their fists and egged on the crowd. “Chavistas” seized the state-run TV station late Saturday. Even as gunfire rattled downtown streets, pro-Chavez lawmaker Juan Barreto praised the “peaceful insurrection” that called for Chavez’s return.
CARMONA’S CONCESSIONS
Bowing to a demand by restive army commanders, Carmona said earlier Saturday that Chavez would be allowed to leave the country. He promised to reinstate the country’s National Assembly, which he dissolved on Friday, along with the Constitution, Supreme Court, and other institutions. Carmona also lost the support of the 1 million-member Venezuelan Workers Confederation, which co-led last week’s general strike, after Carmona decide to dissolve Congress, said confederation director Jesus Urbietta. Jesse Chacon, president of Venezuela’s telecommunications agency, said TV stations’ conduct last week will be investigated. Chacon condemned stations that failed to cover protests against Chavez’s ouster.
At least 20 disturbances were reported in Caracas on Saturday. Unrest also was reported in the cities of Maracay, Guarenas, Los Teques and Coro. Police fought pitched battles with Chavez supporters in the western Caracas slum of Catia, a Chavez stronghold.
© 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
BTW - anybody see "Commanding Heights" on PBS?
Chavez had the support of the airforce general with the f-16 fighters, I imagine that was a very important consideration. This is also a lesson for people in the US as well, don't automagically think that every dotmil person will always support "the people", some will, some will support any random dictator when push comes to shove. You have no way of knowing until it happens, either.
Anyway, this venezuelan general probably threatened the anti- chavez generals with an aerial attack on them and their civvie supporters if they didn't stand down.
It's been the weekend for coups it appears.
The test will come if Chavez returns to his unpopular socialistic policies. And he's up for re-election in 2006 anyway. While not a boon for democracy, this isn't the disaster it could be.
Does this from the Washington Post put them on Chavez's enemies list?
(April 13, 2002)Washington Post Chavez's Gloomy Legacy for The Left [Excerpt] Now Colombia's government-sanctioned guerrilla haven is gone. So is Chavez after three tumultuous years of leftist agitating, class warfare and a spasm of violence on the streets of this capital, suggesting that leftist revolutions waged even by elected leaders are not the choice of a region still highly susceptible to populist appeals. Or at least not the way Chavez carries out revolutions.
"The lesson here is that charismatic demagogues can still win elections in poor countries," said Anibal Romero, a political science professor at Simon Bolivar University here. "The economic and social instability is still with us. The field is still open for the successful appearance of these figures that, by distorting reality and securing the hearts and minds of the uneducated,win elections."
…………..Part of the problem is the way people such as Chavez, who had been on the outside of a corrupt two-party lock on power for years, play the game once they take office. After his failed 1992 coup, Chavez served a two-year prison sentence and then began a journey of discovery on horseback across Venezuela's countryside. He was accompanied by an Argentine neo-fascist, Norberto Ceresole, who believed that a leader should rule with the army at his side.
After his election, Chavez set out to weaken Venezuela's institutions, first by engineering a new constitution that bolstered his power and then by appointing loyal military officers to run its independent agencies. Chavez set out to run a country with a sophisticated economy, based primarily on its vast oil reserves, as a one-man show. He employed the military to carry out social projects, and passed by fiat such important legislation as a land reform measure that would confiscate private property. [End Excerpt]
I am sure that the Venezuelan generals will be meditating on that thought while facing the firing squads.
We all know what will happen next. Having wrapped himself in the constitution, Chavez will now proceed to set it aside in the name of protecting it from its enemies, and the long, dark night will descend.
It's not over 'till the fat lady sings. Chavez should have saved his life and left when he had a chance, next time they'll just shoot his sorry a$$ and make sure he can't take over again.
We agree. I was thinking that holding him for trial was more civilized then killing him out right. But I should have listened to my inter-barbarian.
a.cricket
I'm not. If this man is a CINO -- communist in name only -- then nothing will change, except Venezuala will become a terrorist harbor for Middle Eastern terrorists.
If, however, he is a geniune communist, then Venezuala will go the way of Russia, and collapse. Since it has a much weaker economic base from which to work, it will collapse completely in about 20 years.
Either way, Middle Eastern terrorists will now operate out of Venezuala.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.