Venezuelan tries to dispel rumors of coup - calls for calm

Houston Chronicle ^ | June 14, 2002 | PATRICK MARKEY, AP

[Cincinatus' Wife]

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuela's defense minister called Thursday for calm after a week of constant rumors of an impending coup against President Hugo Chavez rattled the world's fifth largest oil exporter.

Chavez, who was briefly ousted by rebel military and civilian leaders in April before loyal troops restored him to the presidency, has repeatedly tried to quell rumors of rebellion, dismissing them as a propaganda campaign to scuttle his self-proclaimed "revolution."

"We are investigating where the rumors are originating, looking into these e-mails and pamphlets calling for people to buy food and store water. It's a series of lies, trying to create anxiety and fear," said Gen. Lucas Rincon.

"This is just a way of creating terrorism. This is not the way to take the country forward," Rincon said.

Eight weeks after the April 11-14 uprising against Chavez's 3-year-old government, renewed fears of a military coup have kept Venezuela on edge.

Widely circulated e-mails warning residents to prepare for an impending rebellion and stock up for food and water shortages last week spooked currency markets and prompted the president to dismiss the messages as propaganda.

Underscoring concerns over political upheaval, a video broadcast earlier last week by two local television stations showed a group of camouflaged figures in masks, who criticized the government, praised the April coup and warned of civil war.

Chavez challenged the video as a fake although he has moved to cull dissidents from the armed forces, according to leading military officials.

Rincon also dismissed reports of discontent in the ranks and said most of the armed forces are "working and content, completing their duties and their missions."

Since his election in 1998, Chavez has faced increasing opposition to the social and economic policies he says help the poor and stamp out corruption. His critics say the reforms and his ties with anti-U.S. states such as Cuba have sapped investor confidence and fractured the nation along class lines.

After his return to power in April, Chavez promised dialogue with political foes and reformed his cabinet to help deflect criticism he is not open to change.

But talks between the rival groups are mired in political sniping as each side blames the other for deaths during the coup. At least 17 people died when gunmen opened fire on an anti-government rally before the coup, and more than 50 people were killed during the rioting and looting that followed.

Opposition leaders this week stepped up their attempts to find legal alternatives to remove Chavez. A group of opposition assembly members Wednesday asked the attorney general to charge the president with embezzlement for what they allege is the government's misuse of $2.3 billion from a rainy-day savings fund.

The president's critics are also exploring constitutional methods to remove him from power, such as reforming the constitution to shorten his term in office or a referendum to prompt new elections.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Chavez facing a storm of coup threats - Wary Venezuelans hoard food, guns*** CARACAS - A new wave of coup threats against President Hugo Chávez is pushing Venezuelans to the edge of hysteria, with many residents of the capital stockpiling food and condo associations preparing an inventory of guns in case of looting. Clandestine communiqués and videos from alleged military officers vowing to topple the leftist president emerge almost daily. As each rumor peaks and wanes, the country's battered currency fluctuates wildly against the U.S. dollar. The threats and an accompanying gusher of dire rumors have sparked an unprecedented crisis in this oil-rich nation, virtually paralyzing the country and awakening fears of bloodshed, even civil war.

U.S. Ambassador Charles Shapiro said Wednesday the coup rumors helped prompt a State Department warning this week that Americans in Venezuela should take security precautions. ''In a country where there are so many rumors, it's important for foreigners to be careful,'' he said. The crisis atmosphere is even more intense than in April, when a sudden military coup forced Chávez out of power for two days amid a whirlwind of political violence and looting that left 70 dead. ''The country is on the verge of a nervous breakdown,'' the centrist TalCual newspaper said this week in an editorial that called for calm.***

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I don't know what this woman is doing.

Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez jeer at anti-government protestors outside the attorney general's office in Caracas June 13, 2002. Opposition leaders this week have held daily rallies to mark two months since the April 11-14 coup that briefly toppled the president. REUTERS/Chico Sanchez

Chavez Faces $2.3 Billion Scandal*** The Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) said Wednesday that it never received $2.3 billion from the government destined for a rainy day fund, plunging the administration of President Hugo Chávez into a major misappropriation scandal…………Influential afternoon newspaper Tal Cual charged Wednesday that the government had incurred into "a mega corruption" and said Chávez owed the nation an explanation and to reveal the true destiny of the money. "Without any doubt," said Tal Cual," it (the government) used part of the money to cover ordinary government expenditures, but a fair amount was used to finance the expenses and trips to Cuba of the Bolivarian Circles," the government's highly criticized militia.***

Hugo Chavez - Venezuela

[Free the USA]

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