Cesar Gaviria, secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), told reporters he saw no risk of a new coup like the one that swept Chavez out last Friday after a huge anti-government protest when 17 people died, but warned: "There is a risk ... social unrest will come again soon."
Indeed, opposition leaders, unconvinced that the feisty former paratrooper whom critics say wants to install a Cuban-style regime in the world's No. 4 oil exporter has any intention of changing his autocratic ways, promised as much. "As long as Chavez remains in power, we will continue the protests," Henry Ramos, president of Accion Democratica, one of Venezuela's main opposition parties, told Reuters. ***