Venezuela's opposition seeks unified strategy for ousting Chavez *** CARACAS, Venezuela - Conservatives wore green, while radical leftist students wore red. The vast majority of marchers last weekend, though, were not representing any political party and simply waved Venezuelan flags. The hundreds of thousands of marching Venezuelans dwelled less on their incompatible ideologies than on a deeply shared longing: to oust President Hugo Chavez.
One month after Chavez was removed from office and then quickly restored, dissent is rebuilding in this South American nation of 24 million people - but it is leaderless and disoriented. Most Venezuelans look upon the opposition parties with disdain, considering them corrupt and incapable of proposing a viable alternative to Chavez's self-described leftist "revolution." In desperation, the parties have pledged a unified strategy for toppling Chavez: convoke a national referendum to push him out.***
U.S. denies American military ships entered Venezuelan waters during coup *** CARACAS, Venezuela - The U.S. Embassy on Tuesday denied that an American military ship entered Venezuelan waters during a coup attempt against President Hugo Chavez. The only U.S. vessels to approach Venezuelan waters during the April 11-14 coup attempt were two U.S. Coast Guard ships on a joint anti-narcotics mission with The Netherlands, the embassy said in a news release.***