Posted on 04/12/2002 5:19:53 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez, the former army paratrooper who vowed to dismantle a corrupt democracy and improve the lot of Venezuela's poor, resigned under military pressure Friday after a massive opposition demonstration against his government ended in a bloodbath.
Chavez, 47, presented his resignation to three officers after he was confronted by the military high command at the presidential palace, said the Air Force chief, Gen. Regulo Anselmi, who was present at the time.
At 3 a.m. Friday, Chavez, wearing military fatigues and a red beret -- as he did when he led a failed 1992 coup against then-President Carlos Andres Perez -- left the palace for Caracas' Fort Tiuna army base. He was being held there while investigators decide what charges he could face for Thursday's violence, said army commander Gen. Efrain Vasquez Velasco.
Thousands of Chavez opponents celebrated overnight, waving flags, blowing whistles and jamming a main highway in Caracas. They planned a victory rally later Friday.
Pedro Carmona, head of Venezuela's largest business association, announced he would head a transitional government to be installed later Friday. He also announced an immediate end to a general strike called earlier this week against Chavez.
The 1 million-member Venezuelan Workers Confederation, and the business association Fedecamaras, called the strike to support executives within the state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, who were protesting Chavez's appointments to top company posts. The oil strike had sharply cut vital production in the world's fourth-largest oil exporter and the No. 3 supplier to the United States.
Chavez quit just hours after at least 13 people were killed and 110 wounded during a 150,000-strong opposition demonstration in downtown Caracas. Chavez had ordered National Guard troops and civilian gunmen, including rooftop snipers, to stop the marchers from reaching the palace, military officers said.
The rapid developments stunned this oil-rich, yet poverty-stricken nation. But opposition to Chavez's three-year presidencey had been growing for some time.
The confrontational president had also alienated Washington with his close ties to Cuban President Fidel Castro and criticism of U.S. bombings in Afghanistan. The White House had no immediate comment on Chavez's resignation, spokesman Taylor Gross said.
"I urge Venezuelans to maintain calm, to keep faith, to continue working on the road toward democracy, freedom and peace," said retired Gen. Guaicaipuro Lameda, who until February headed the Petroleos de Venezuela oil monopoly and was a leader of the movement to oust Chavez. "It's with sadness that to reach this point, so many people had to die, so many wounded."
During Thursday's clashes, National Guard troops fired tear gas at the front ranks of marchers bearing sticks and throwing rocks. Tear gas drifted into the presidential compound. Rooftop snipers and Chavez supporters repeatedly fired upon the protesters and even ambulance crews trying to evacuate the wounded.
Among the dead was Jorge Tortoza, a 45-year-old photographer with Diario 2001 newspaper. As many as 110 people were wounded, Greater Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena said.
As the bloodbath unfolded, Chavez ordered five Caracas television stations off the air -- charging they were inciting violence. Most Venezuelans were denied images of "Chavistas" repeatedly firing on unarmed protesters, bodies lying in pools of blood on the streets, and hooded thugs attacking police until after the military rebelled.
Just three years into his presidency, Chavez's combative rhetoric had alienated virtually every sector of Venezuelan society with his attacks on the news media and Roman Catholic Church leaders, his refusal to consult with business leaders, and his failed attempt to assert control over labor groups.
Chavez's government also inherited a staggering $21 billion in back wages and pensions owed workers by previous administrations -- a debt he was unable to pay.
His suspected ties to Colombia's leftist guerrillas angered many in the military and abroad.
Domestic opponents claimed his government was secretly arming neighborhood block committees known as "Bolivarian Circles," named after South American liberator Simon Bolivar, to defend his revolution. The Circles were created after Castro urged Chavez's supporters to organize during a 2000 visit.
Chavez also exasperated Venezuelans with his frequent use of "cadenas" -- hours-long presidential speeches that by law had to be broadcast by all Venezuelan TV and radio stations.
For Chavez, who on Tuesday boasted he would remain president until 2021, the end came quickly.
Just last Friday, he refused to negotiate with state-run Petroleos de Venezuela executives who were demanding that he remove a company board he had appointed Feb. 25. The executives claimed the appointees weren't qualified and were meant to strengthen Chavez's hold on a multinational corporation that cherishes its autonomy.
The oil executives launched a slowdown last week that cut production at the Paraguana refinery complex, one of the world's largest, to below 50 percent capacity. They closed another refinery, disrupted gasoline deliveries and all but stopped loading of oil tankers. Oil generates 80 percent of Venezuela's foreign earnings.
Anselmi said the military urged Chavez on Wednesday to negotiate. He agreed, but by then the Petroleos de Venezuela executives had rejected such overtures.
After Thursday's violence, the high command decided Chavez had to go, and they confronted him en masse in his offices, Anselmi said. National Guard troops seized the government television station as tanks rumbled on the streets. Chavez's longtime mentor, former Interior Minister Luis Miquilena, condemned the repression.
Chavez, surrounded by a nervous Cabinet, finally handed his resignation to Anselmi, Armed Forces Inspector General Gen. Lucas Rincon Romero and National Guard commander Gen. Belisario Landis.
"Being a friend of his for many years, I advised him to resign and allow Venezuelans to avoid a bigger bloodbath," said Gen. Francisco Uson, who until Thursday served as Chavez's finance minister.
Vasquez Velasco, the army commander, said 95 percent of army forces were under his control, as well as all airports and major military bases. Incoming international commercial flights were canceled until further notice.
"We ask the Venezuelan people's forgiveness for today's events," said Vasquez Velasco. "Mr. President, I was loyal to the end, but today's deaths cannot be tolerated."
Sure they would odolize Chavez but Che Guevara hasn't personally caused much mischief ever since they plugged him in Bolivia.
At 47, Chavez still a lot of years left in him to make a comeback. If Fidel Castro had been tried for murder and shot after Castro's attack on the Cuban military garrison at Moncada on July 26, 1953, Cuba would have saved itself much grief from 1959 through 2002 and counting.
I can also think of a funny-looking and apparently harmless kook that the German Weimar Republic should have executed for treason in 1923 after his failed so-called "Beer Hall Putsch".
Better a future dead idol than a future live tyrant.
PRIVATIZE PDVSA!
It was critical that he be removed, and it finally happened. Hurray!
And I bet that it would not have happened if Gore were president.
During Thursday's clashes, National Guard troops fired tear gas at the front ranks of marchers bearing sticks and throwing rocks. Tear gas drifted into the presidential compound. Rooftop snipers and Chavez supporters repeatedly fired upon the protesters and even ambulance crews trying to evacuate the wounded.
I'm so glad that thug is out of office. I congratulate the military for doing the right thing for their country and their people.
Bump!
Bump!
I wonder how many Cubans there actually are. I wonder how many Chavez people of all stripes are still around. The new guy is going to have to pull a Pinochet to get this country back on its feet, pronto. If the Venezuelans pull the oil plug on Fidel, I hope that slick Fox bastard won't make up the difference with Mex oil! Great chance for the SOB to prove his self-proclaimed everlasting love for us for us. His foreign minister is a big Fidel buddy, though.
Get ready for all of Allende's pals and the Sandinista Supporters to hit the boob tube again. Dodd, Schumer, et al ... I'm sick already.
Why was it reposted? It is painful to revisit lost opportunities... the price for not succeeding back then may be very high indeed.
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