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.***
Preparing for a Saturday Coup? Venezuela Situation Escalating[Full Text] Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV) neighborhood watch committee (Bolivian Circle) officials forecast that another attempted coup d'etat will be launched on Saturday (June 15) collateral to an anti-government march on Avendia Bolivar demanding the resignations of both the Attorney General and the Comptroller General of the Republic.
According to the neighborhood watch committee--which draws its support from mostly from students and local residents--anti-government demonstration organizers will attempt to divert the march to the Miraflores Presidential Palace and confront pro-government supporters already gathered outside the Palace gates. The group calls on foriegn media to send their own reporters and not to rely on Venezuela's opposition-led mainstream media for news reports and images. [End]