Posted on 04/17/2002 2:50:03 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A senior Bush administration official contacted Pedro Carmona the day the business leader took over as Venezuela's president after Hugo Chavez was temporarily ousted, The New York Times reported in its online edition Wednesday.
Otto Reich, the assistant U.S. secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, phoned Carmona Friday and pleaded with him not to dissolve the National Assembly, the newspaper reported.
Reich, a Cuban American known for his opposition to Cuban President Fidel Castro told Carmona that such a move would be a "stupid thing to do," and provoke an outcry, the Times reported, citing a State Department official.
Earlier Tuesday, the Bush administration, which appeared to tacitly endorse the Chavez's short-lived ouster, said it met with the Chavez's opposition in recent months but denied encouraging a coup.
Chavez returned to office Sunday. He was deposed by military officers Friday after 17 people were killed during huge protests against his rule.
Despite Reich's prodding, the interim government led by Carmona attempted to fire all members of the Supreme Court and the National Assembly. It called for new congressional elections to be held by December.
President Bush appointed Reich during a congressional recess in January to bypass the legislative body's nomination approval process. Democrats had blocked Reich's nomination because of his staunch anti-Castro views and his role in the Reagan administration's controversial strategy against the Nicaraguan Sandinistas in the 1980s.
Houston Chronicle - Astros' Venezuelans keeping an eye on country's political unrest - Castro likes baseball too*** The political unrest in Venezuela has touched baseball on many fronts, especially the Astros, whose Venezuelan baseball academy is considered the model. The Astros' academy is in Guacara, 2 1/2 hours away from the turmoil in Caracas. Ironically, though, it is on land owned by the chemical company Venoco. Pedro Carmona, the man who served as leader of the interim government after temporarily overthrowing Chavez, is the president of Venoco. Carmona was released from jail Monday.
Chavez surely hasn't forgotten, though, that Carmona dismantled the National Assembly, fired the ministers of the Supreme Court and arrested high-level government officials during the nearly 48 hours Chavez was out of power and under military control. …… "I've said for a long time that this guy might try to be the next Fidel Castro," said Peter Greenberg, who represents Hidalgo, Hernandez, Bobby Abreu, Edgardo Alfonzo, Roger Cedeño and most of the top Venezuelans in the majors. "My players say, `Don't worry. He loves baseball. He won't mess with the baseball players.' Then I remind them that Fidel loves baseball, too."***
Miami Herald - Foes determined to oust Chavez***Sixty-eight people were killed and 527 wounded by gunfire and other violence during the political upheaval and widespread looting from Thursday to Sunday, said Guillermo Garróz, head of the National Civil Defense. Cabello said 80 armed forces members were in custody, suspected of involvement in the coup. Caracas appeared almost normal Tuesday, although a number of looted supermarkets remained closed.
Chávez lost much of his popularity in the past year with his acidic attacks on virtually everyone who opposes him since his election by a landslide in 1998, six years after he launched a failed coup attempt. But in a sign of the continuing political bitterness, the million member Venezuelan Confederation of Workers said it will still push for a referendum on shortening Chávez's presidential term, due to end in 2006.
….. Most opposition lawmakers boycotted the first meeting of the Assembly since the coup attempt and a lawmaker from Chávez's party, the Fifth Republic Movement, Ernesto Alvarenga, announced he had defected to the opposition. …….''This is a government that has been violating the constitution for three years,'' he said, accusing the Chávez-controlled Supreme Court of repeatedly issuing politically-biased rulings. Defense Minister José Vicente Rangel dismissed the calls. 'Those who continue asking for Chávez' exit did not learn the lesson of the counter-coup,'' he said.
''In fact, until now the only one I have hear talking about rectifying is Chávez,'' Rangel added. ……'He said the events were a lesson that God has given us all . . . and said that for the good of the country he was going to straighten out many things,'' Velazco added. ``I believe at that moment he was sincere.''***
old Carmona that such a move would be a "stupid thing to do," and provoke an outcry,He was right.
The other mistake that was made is that when Chavez was taken out of power, they let him live.
His criticisms against the Church grew harsher after 80,000 protesters marched last Wednesday in Caracas in opposition to his government. This was the largest protest against the 3-year-old Chávez government. As a result, the president has sped up the militarization of his regime with the appointment of Ramón Rodríguez Chacín as Interior Minister. Chacín was a navy captain who took part in the failed 1992 coup organized by Chávez himself.
The appointment followed soon after the suspension of Vice President Adina Bastidas, who was replaced by Diosdado Cabello, a retired colonel who also took part in the failed coup against democracy. Four other military men of the unsuccessful coup are now in the Cabinet. At least 50 soldiers occupy midlevel posts in government, the diplomatic corps and state-run enterprises. ***
January 2002- Opposition lawmakers attacked by supporters of Venezuela's President Chavez****CARACAS, Venezuela -- Dozens of supporters of President Hugo Chavez attacked opposition lawmakers trying to leaving Venezuela's legislature following a marathon session late Saturday. ….Supporters of the president, known as "chavistas," attacked the legislators -- shoving, hitting and in some cases throwing rocks -- after a nine-hour session that ended with a Chavez ally's re-election as president of the National Assembly. Chavez called the violence a "warning" to the opposition "and its absurd and evil intention" of trying to destabilize his government. He threatened to deploy supporters on "every street corner" to "defend the revolution," as the leftist leader refers to his policies.***
February 2002 - Chavez Tries Charm to Disarm Critics (Russian and Cuban security advisers in Venezuela) ***The official said he was also concerned at the growing role of Russian and Cuban security advisers in Venezuela. Egui Bastidas said he had experienced "the direct participation and the attempts at indoctrination by the Russian and Cuban intelligence services, who have direct and virtually unlimited access within the Helicoide (DISIP's headquarters building)." The official's lawyer, former DISIP Secretary-General Joaquin Chaffardet, said around 100 members of the Cuban intelligence services are currently operating in Venezuela. The new allegations would, if proven, further strain the already difficult relationship between the United States and Venezuela.***
March 2002- Chavez's image taken off altars *** Lately, Chavez declared himself a member of a charismatic congregation, thus allegedly belonging to his country's fastest-growing branch of Christianity. But then he angered the country's National Catholic Bishops Conference by communing at a Mass organized by a priest of pro-Communist leanings.***
April 2002 Chavistas: Venezuelan street toughs "Comandante" Lina Ron, who considers herself a modern version of "Tania," a woman who fought alongside Cuban revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara, says she is a willing martyr for Chavez's cause. She was arrested after leading a violent pro-Chavez counter-protest against demonstrating university students………. In recent months, the 42-year-old Ron has organized and led street marches - called "countermarches" here - to stop or intimidate demonstrations by civilians and a disorganized opposition to Chavez.
Two December marches to Miraflores, the presidential palace, were stopped by Ron's "countermarches." A February march to the National Assembly to commemorate Venezuelan democracy was similarly met - and diverted - by a countermarch. Ron and her followers burned a U.S. flag in Caracas' central Plaza Bolivar just after the September terrorist attacks in the United States. The anti-Washington demonstration appalled many Venezuelans.
More recently, Ron's followers threatened journalists at El Nacional newspaper in Caracas. Chavez has called Ron a political prisoner. "We salute Lina Ron, a female soldier who deserves the respect of all Venezuelans," he said recently.*** (More at LINK)
FARC: A Terrorist Regime waiting in the Wings-- Hugo Chavez's involvement.
MORE: Hugo Chavez - Venezuela
The deal with Beal didn't happen but why did Beal Aerospace Tech wanted to put a base in Guyana? *** A major advantage of the Guyana site for the spaceport is its proximity to the Equator. This makes it easier to launch satellites, as the satellites can use the centrifugal force of the Earth to get into orbit. According to the company, a rocket launching a satellite into geosynchronous orbit from a site on the equator uses about 10-20% less fuel than rockets launched from Cape Canaveral.
The country has two other geographical advantages. It has large remote areas suitable for an incredibly noisy activity like launching rockets. The second reason is the expanse of ocean to the east and north, which is important for safety reasons. All rockets carrying satellites into geosynchronous orbits will be launched to the east, and all other satellites will be launched to the north. Beal's rocket, like all current rockets capable of launching satellites, will have multiple stages. As these stages fall off, they can fall into an uninhabited area. Similarly, if a rocket has to be aborted, it is important that it can fall to earth without incurring any safety obstacles.
Other reasons cited by Beal are the site's location in an english-speaking country with a legal system not dissimilar from that of the USA. The country is also politically stable.***
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(July 23, 2001)--sohu.com--Venezuela calls for end to Guyana border dispute--[Full text] Pro-government Venezuelan lawmakers have called for a peaceful end to a century-old border dispute with neighboring Guyana, under which it claims some three-quarters of the former British colony. The legislators visited settlements on the border with Guyana on Saturday to sign a declaration supporting President Hugo Chavez' position that a 1899 treaty giving a mineral-rich region called Esequibo to Guyana was "null and provocative."
The declaration also urged both nations to work for a swift solution to the dispute which would be "just, long-lasting and acceptable."
"We held a special session of the parliamentary Defense Committee and then we signed the document," legislator Saul Ortega told Reuters on Sunday. Over the past two years, Chavez's nationalist administration has revived the border controversy over Esequibo, a sparsely inhabited jungle region of some 63,600 square miles (159,000 square km) in eastern Guyana.
During his weekly radio talk show "Hello President" on Saturday, Chavez pledged cooperation "with Guyana and with all the people which live in that immense territory." "This cannot remain in limbo for much longer, we have to solve this situation," said Chavez, after talking by telephone with National Assembly President William Lara who headed the delegation.
Lara, a staunch Chavez supporter, insisted that "we do not have a hostile stance. This is not an unfriendly gesture toward Guyana or anyone." In recent weeks, Chavez has also strongly defended Venezuela's sovereignty over a tiny island, the Isla de Aves, amid criticism from eastern Caribbean nations. The desert island, which is only inhabited part of the year, lies some 350 miles (565 km) north of Venezuela's coast. [End Text]
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Russia in Venezuela looking for launch site*** Russian-Venezuelan trade totals $100 million a year. The Russian delegation, including Oil Vice Minister Leonid Tropko, was expected to sign pacts on tourism, Russian investment and exploring the possibility of a commercial satellite launching facility in Venezuela.***
China's leader has visited Hugo Chavez and their countries have signed many agreements. I don't doubt Chavez would welcome any anti-American country to establish a beachhead or build a launch facility in his country. China already has set up a spy station in Cuba. -- Russia closing huge eavesdropping site in Cuba*** The move by Russia raised speculation that China would now take the lead in covert operations on the island. The Chinese are alleged to have built an identical eavesdropping facility in Cuba known as Bejucal. The 2-year-old post in Havana province is believed to be capable of both eavesdropping and ``cyber-warfare.''***
"I'm very concerned about what message it sends about our support for democracy there and around the world," said Senator Tom Daschle, the Democratic majority leader. "I think that we've got to be supportive of democratic principles even when they choose to elect people we don't like."
In some ways, the back-and-forth between administration officials and Democrats recalled the suspicion and bitter policy battles over Central America and Cuba during the Reagan administration. The administration's foreign policy team is dominated by anti-Castro hard-liners, who fought those policy battles, and they are running afoul of familiar antagonists including Senator Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who has long specialized in Latin American affairs.
Mr. Dodd expressed dismay that the administration had been slow to criticize Mr. Chávez's ouster. Administration officials erroneously reported on Friday that Mr. Chávez had resigned and said his antidemocratic behavior was responsible for his undoing. Only after Mr. Chávez had been restored on Saturday did the administration support a resolution at the Organization of American States condemning the interruption of democratic rule.
"While all the details of the attempted coup in Venezuela are not yet known, what is clear is that the vast majority of governments in the hemisphere lived up to their responsibilities under the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and denounced the unconstitutional efforts to take power from a government which had been freely elected," Mr. Dodd said.
Mr. Reich, who is a Cuban exile, warned Congressional aides that there was more at stake in Venezuela than the success or failure of Mr. Chávez. American officials accuse Mr. Chávez of meddling with the historically independent state oil company, providing haven to Colombian guerrillas and bailing out Cuba with preferential rates on oil.
In the closed door briefing, Mr. Reich said the administration had received reports that "foreign paramilitary forces" suspected to be Cubans were involved in the bloody suppression of anti-Chávez demonstrators, in which at least 14 people were killed, a Congressional official said today.
Mr. Reich, who declined to be interviewed today, offered no evidence for his assertion, the official said. ***
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