Posted on 04/12/2002 6:40:56 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez, the former army paratrooper who polarized Venezuela with his strongarm rule and whose friendship with Cuba and Iraq irritated the United States, resigned under military pressure Friday after a massive opposition demonstration 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.
Chavez asked to be allowed to go into exile in Cuba, but the miltiary turned him down, army Gen. Roman Fuemayor told Globovision television. "He has to be held accountable to his country," Fuemayor said.
Oil prices dipped on news of Chavez' downfall, amid expectations it would bring an increase in production at the world's fourth biggest oil exporter. Venezuela is the No. 3 supplier to the United States. Output had been sharply cut amid a strike at the state-run oil monopoly, which spiralled into a massive protest against Chavez.
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.
Thousands of Venezuelans celebrated overnight, waving flags, blowing whistles and jamming a main highway in Caracas. Police warned that Chavez supporters reportedly were distributing weapons, especially in the hillside slums surrounding the capital. Officers raided storehouses, seizing dozens of firearms.
Downtown, streets were littered with debris - and in some places, stained with blood. Shops and businesses remained closed, and most people simply stayed home, stunned and wondering what would come next. Buses were half-empty, and those reporting to work hurried amidst rubble-strewn sidewalks.
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 demonstration was the culmination of a strike called by the 1 million-member Venezuelan Workers Confederation and the business association Fedecamaras. The strike was in support of executives at the state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, who were protesting Chavez's appointments to top company posts.
"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 oil company 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."
The Bush administration said it was closely monitoring the political upheaval in Venezuela. "Our interests are in democracy and democratic institutions," said a senior U.S. official traveling with Secretary of State Colin Powell in Jerusalem.
In London, Brent crude oil opened 44 cents down from Thursday at $24.60 per barrel. In New York, May contracts of light sweet U.S. crude fell 46 cents a barrel to $24.53.
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. 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.
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.
He had irritated Washington with his close ties to Cuban President Fidel Castro visits to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and to Libya, and criticism of U.S. bombings in Afghanistan.
And he 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 the striking oil executives, who were demanding that he remove a company board he had appointed Feb. 25. The executives claimed Chavez was trying to strengthen his 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. 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."
I disagree. The business of America is business in this hemisphere. Always has been, Always will be. This one was just cleaner than Panama or Guatemala in 54 or El Salvador in the early eighties, or Nicaragua or Chile. Colombia is the real problem. Chavez was a punk.
Will corruption and injustice
gain a stranglehold over
Venezuela's misery again?
Editorial © by VHeadline.com Editor Roy S. Carson
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But as soon as they get power, they immediately destroy the democratic institutions that elected them and replace anyone who could conceivably oppose or even object to them. This is precisely what Chavez (and Hitler before him) did.
Even people who had voted for him were out there marching against him. I'm glad they were able to do this before he was able to completely consolidate his power (as Hitler unfortunately did) and destroy all of the opposition.
I laugh at the people who post here who have never been to Venezuela and rely on the Media for their "news." Just look at how they report Israel and you'll get the idea.
The majority of the people live & work like dogs due to the high level corruption of the minority elite for the past 40 years.
The rich are just protecting their turf. As are the corrupt unions.
The peasants are going to be pissed as the new "leaders" sell off state owned facilities and put the $$ in their own pockets.
I don't agree 100% with Chavez, but he WAS elected by HIS countrymen. Democracy is a joke when the corrupt, moneyed elite rob & pillage the treasury and buy million dollar condos in Miami with their ill gotten gains, while the average Venezuelan sleeps in a cot/
You lost you're argument with this comparison. You have never been to Venezuela, and you shouldn't spread disinfo like this.
And let's say, for the sake of argument, that 50% + 1 supported him stealing form the other 49%, would that make it right? You're just a loser who wants easier access to his drugs, and I say this because the world establishment loves Castro and Chavez was Castro wannabe.
He was elected TWICE by a Majority. Why don't you just admit you're Cuban & your hate/jealousy of Castro eats your brain cells away.
He's been pruned.
So was Clinton. That doesn't make him any better than he was. They do things a little bit differently in other countries. Chavez was doing things that weren't presidential or legal. They asked him nicely, many times to stop, he didn't, they removed him from his job. If Chavez believed himself to be right and that what he was doing was legal he could have prevailed, be he knew what he was up to and so eventually did the people.
The next government will simply rape Venezuela even more than previous administartions.
The one positive is that Venezuela will probably now pull out of OPEC.
Chavez's constitutional reforms were less evil than our own "patriot Act."
Your populist rhetoric is fundamentally flawed. Why do I say that? Chavez was democratically elected, he used that type of rhetoric, and look where it got him. He failed. You seem to be quoting verbatim from the Chavez speech book.
Just because a leader is elected democratically does not make them good and infallible. How do they handle the power once it is in their hands? We know what Hitler did, he abused it. We know what Chavez did, he tried to copy Castro's example.
Three years ago, after he was elected, his administration identified areas where they wanted to promote economic development by attracting foreign investment. It seemed like a positive move, something that would provide jobs for some of those people living in shacks on those hillsides. One of these areas was oil production. Venezuela allowed all of the multinational oil companies to bid on certain properties. These leases were in places where the oil was not easy get at -- Venezuela did not have the technology. What happened after the foreign oil companies came in, invested their money to put in the technologically advanced wells, and began production? Chavez "passed" 47 new laws without the consent of the legislature. One of these laws called for an increase in royalties from 15% to 30% on this production. His scheme to attract foreign investment into this sector was fraudulent from day one.
Another sector that was identified as an area to attract foreign investment (and thereby increase job opportunities) was the petrochemical sector. I looked into this opportunity myself but it never got past the first discussion. Why? On the surface it all looked very attractive, but the Chavez administration had a guideline composed of 10 or 12 points. They all sounded very good and reasonable until we reached point #7, which stated "if we decide to nationalize the petrochemical industry we will pay you a fair price." Yessiree, that'll really encourage someone to spend time and sweat to develop technology, invest megabucks, build a plant, and develop the sales base -- just to have a foreign country confiscate your business and facilities. The result was that many companies looked into this "opportunity," but all of them were scared away and invested their money elsewhere. The jobs went somewhere else.
So if you want to know why poverty INCREASED during the failed Chavez administration, you can't blame the rich. You have only Chavez himself to blame. His policies chased off investors and caused massive flight of capital from the country.
I monitor the Vheadline website on a daily basis just for laughs. They are nothing but a mouthpiece for Chavez Roy Carson is an idiot. Their propaganda is not credible.
My friend just returned from Habana last night. She was last there three years ago & couldn't believe the changes. She said the island is thriving with tourism. People are happy. The Cubans who work in the tourism industry make more than in the US, comaparetively & have no stress. The the exile community in Miami is laughed at from those that live there, according to her. No homeless people there and less people in jail than in the US, too. (No campaign contributions either.) Yes, it's not democracy, and I am no fan of Castro, but Cuba has never really had democracy.
Right now, Cuba is probably the safest place to go for vacation. 11% of tourists are from the US. Mainly Italians, Canadians & Spaniards. The Cubans she spoke to love Cuba, love Castro & loathe Miami (except for the money they send). When Castro dies there will be no change-
She visited many neighborhoods. People there are buying luxury goods and wearing designer clothes. Cars are mostly 40 years old, though.
Her friend has business there (perfumes & fragrances)and is making big bucks. Most of his customers in 20 stores buying $50-$100 fragrances are Cubans. They are not starving like we are led to believe. Cuba is going to go on the Euro.
She showed me the pictures and I was amazed at all the new hotel construction.
Total different point of view from what I see here in Miami. The younger Cubans here are all for bringing down the embargo as the way to bring democracy there, but the old timers are against it.
Funny part of all this is that if not for Castro, most exiles in Miami (who are upper middle class) would never have come here & achieved their success.
Miami owes it's renaissance because of the hard working Cubans here.
How is this any different than Pemex in Mexico?
So because Chavez tried to protect the number #1 asset of the Venezuelan people, rather than give it away you're pissed? I don't blame you-I'd be pissed too. Now, you've got your chance. Good luck.
Europe has been trading freely with the Cuban worker's paradise for forty (40) years, and things are getting worse every year...
His adventures at the Police station were a real laugher. The cops REFUSED TO WRITE THE INCIDENT UP AS A THEFT, saying "No hay crimen en Cuba". The bureaucratic ordeal he went through to get back out of Cuba and return to Chile was pure Kafka.
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