Frank Church
Posted on 04/13/2002 6:16:43 PM PDT by friendly
Edited on 07/12/2004 3:38:27 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Fidel Castro was snubbed and U.S. motorists caught a break as governments across the hemisphere scrambled yesterday to assess the stunning fall of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the left-wing populist ousted under military pressure Thursday after weeks of social unrest.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
This bodes really well for the coming silent (and maybe not so silent) war on the Axis of Evil. I think we can take heart and be optimistic that Bush and his team will get the job done.
In the end the Venezuelans will fumigate these cucharachas with relative ease.
Frank Church
The military of oil-rich Venezuela forced Chavez out Friday after demonstrations against him. Some commanders refused to accept the military's appointed successor, Pedro Carmona, but there have been no reports of fighting within Venezuela's security forces. Meanwhile, the country was left without a working government.
Tens of thousands of Chavez supporters surged toward the presidential palace as night fell Saturday, demanding Chavez's return.
Chavez backers took over state TV and went on air to insist that Chavez was still president, applauding "peaceful insurrection in the streets" that called for his return. Juan Barreto, parliamentary deputy in Chavez's party, called the new government "fascist" and asked that the protests continue.
Earlier in the day, police drove back smaller groups of protesters with tear gas, and gunfire was heard in the nearby Catia slum, a Chavez stronghold.
As the massive crowd approached the palace, there was no tear gas, and soldiers on a nearby roof urged the demonstrators on by pumping their fists and waving Venezuelan flags and their red berets, a symbol of Chavez's rule.
Several pro-Chavez lawmakers and former Cabinet members were inside the palace, a source said, but the purpose behind the presence was unclear.
Barreto said Chavez was being held on La Orchila Island, off the Venezuelan coast, and that several military bases across the nation are under control of pro-Chavez forces. He summoned the National Assembly dissolved by Carmona Friday to report to the TV station.
"The peaceful insurrection is going to continue," Barreto said as Chavez supporters fired guns in the streets of downtown Caracas.
Ousted Labor Minister Maria Cristina Iglesias, who also appeared on state TV, urged the military high command and Carmona and his aides to meet with Chavez's forces to discuss Venezuela's political crisis.
Earlier Saturday, bowing to a demand by restive army commanders, Carmona said Chavez would be allowed to leave the country and promised to reinstate the country's National Assembly, which he dissolved after being sworn in Friday.
The army commander, Gen. Efrain Vasquez, made the demands at a news conference at a base on the outskirts of Caracas. The army "is doing what's necessary to immediately correct the errors committed in this transition process," Vasquez said.
Police fired at protesters in various Caracas slums Saturday, wounding several.
"We have every right to protest, but they are gunning us down out there," said Edgar Paredes, his clothes soaked in blood as he brought his wounded brother to a hospital. He didn't know who shot Luis, and probably never will. Like most violent demonstrations here, gunfire can erupt from any side, at any time.
Chavez was ousted by Venezuela's military on Friday after National Guard troops and pro-Chavez gunmen clashed with opposition protesters. At least 16 people were killed and some 350 wounded, authorities said Saturday.
Chavez's exact whereabouts weren't known. His daughter, Ana Gabriela Chavez, told Cuban television in a telephone interview that Chavez may have been taken La Orchila Island and that he had been mistreated by his captors.
The Organization of American States said it was sending a delegation to Venezuela Sunday to assess the situation and that the OAS General Assembly will meet Wednesday on the matter.
In contrast to Chavez's strained relations with the U.S., Venezuela's new foreign minister-designate said Saturday he wants tight relations with Washington and called Colombian rebels "double enemies of humanity."
Jose Rodriguez denied that Friday's swearing in of Carmona was a coup in disguise. Mexico, Argentina and Paraguay are among other Latin American countries that have denounced Venezuela's new government as illegitimate.
"I don't think this has been viewed objectively," Rodriguez said. "Here there was no military action, nor is the military in power.
"What we need to explain before our colleagues in the continent is that this isn't a coup, although the situation is obviously not normal, legally and constitutionally, as we would wish," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said Venezuela would accept U.S. assistance in tracking and forcing down drug-smuggling flights, which Chavez had refused as a violation of national sovereignty. He said there must be "open cooperation" with the U.S. as well as on the subject of Colombian guerrillas.
Chavez had declared himself "neutral" in Colombia's civil war, and some officers had accused him of sympathizing with the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC, who are widely known to use the Venezuelan border region as a refuge.
U.S. President George W. Bush wants to increase military aid to Colombia to fight the rebels, and Venezuela's cooperation would be an important aspect.
Although several Latin American leaders denounced the irregular transition of power in Venezuela, Washington said Chavez was responsible for his own ouster because of attempts to violently suppress Thursday's demonstration against him.
Bad news for Castro-Oil. Economic constipation straight ahead.
Yes, I like the way that wily fox Bush operates. The DNC press service, oops I meant main-stream media likes to paint Bush as a moron.
Some moron.
Undergraduate at Yale, Finished his Graduate School degree at Harvard, A brilliant businessman, Arguably one of the most successful Governors of the proud Lone Star State, Outwitted the mass media and an army of crooked lawyers to win the Presidency from divinity & law school school flunk-out, pot head, major loon (supposedly brilliant) Gore, invades Afghanistan and annihilates the supposedly impregnible Red Army defeating bad guys in a few weeks with negligible losses...
GWB rocks !
I hope so, a lot of blood would not be helpful to getting business back to normal.
The only upside to blood would be to strenghthen resolve to keep goons like him out of there.
Speaking of brief, don't ex-presidents still have some access to intelligence info?
(Is that what you are getting at?)
No soup for you!!
As Judge Schmeels from Caddyshack would say, "You'll get nothing and like it!!"
Yeah I kinda wonder what message Mr. Peanut has been suggested by the CIA to carry to Fidel.
I strongly believe Bush has made a decision to liberate Cuba before the end of his first term. I have first call on the Free Republic table at the Copacabana night club in Havana on New Years Eve 2003. Cuba Libres for everyone!
If certain black-hats think it's the CIA and lose sleep on that account, so much the better.
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