Posted on 04/16/2002 6:36:55 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS - President Hugo Chávez moved swiftly to consolidate his power by naming a new commander of the joint military staff Monday as his government announced that some military officers suspected of involvement in a short-lived revolt against him had been detained.
Chávez named Gen. Nelson Benitez Verde to replace Gen. Manuel Antonio Rosendo as chief of the unified command. Although he professed the need for national reconciliation instead of revenge, government leaders said that both civilians and military officers who tried to oust Chávez will face criminal charges before military tribunals.
Vice President Diosdado Cabello said some military leaders of the coup against Chávez remained fugitives. Late Monday, however, business leader Pedro Carmona, who enjoyed a two-day reign as president while Chávez was captive on an isolated island, had been released from jail and placed under house arrest.
Cabello said at least 120 people orchestrated a conspiracy against Chávez, including 80 members of the military. Many were briefly jailed and released; it was unclear how many were still being detained Monday night.
Even civilians like Carmona will be tried before a military court with inciting a military rebellion, Cabello said.
''This was not a fortuitous rebellion or a popular rebellion,'' Cabello said. ``This was a civic-military rebellion, and those involved should take responsibility.''
REVOLT'S LEADERS
The issue of how to deal with leaders of the revolt is among the most daunting challenges Chávez faces. While the 47-year-old former paratrooper has publicly called for unity and dialogue, the detention of leaders of the opposition suggested the president would seek to discipline his foes even as he tries to mend his political fences.
As the nation returned to normal, Chávez gave a long public address Monday before a packed room of journalists, where he called for dialogue and insisted many coup participants were manipulated. Many members of the armed forces who tried to overthrow him were deceived by civilian conspirators, Chávez said.
''They were tricked,'' Chávez insisted. ``I have no feelings of revenge or hate. No. I will review each one on a case by case basis and respect everyone's human rights.''
He also blamed the media for allegedly distorting information and magnifying the extent of the uprising. ''The news media have enormous power, and they should not act as a laboratory of lies, sowing terror,'' Chávez affirmed. ``That is terrorism, becoming a nest of terror in order to create a psychological impact.''
The entire cabinet named by Carmona was freed from captivity, defense minister Jose Vicente Rangel said.
The military officers still detained include Rear Admiral Carlos Molina Tamayo, recently forced to retire for making public statements against Chávez, and considered one of the top military collaborators in the coup; Vice Admiral Héctor Ramírez Pérez, named Carmona's defense minister; and Army commander General Efraín Vásquez.
THE DETAINEES
Cabello stressed that the government planned to treat the detainees better than they treated Chávez.
They will be allowed to speak to their families and receive visitors, he said.
''Chavez has to play this very cautiously, especially with the military because there are lot of them,'' said analyst Luis Vicente Leon, director of the Datanalisis polling firm. ``They don't want to create any important martyrs.''
Chávez was detained for two days by the military after mass marches turned violent Thursday. Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets to demand the ouster of the head of state. At least 11 people died that day.
When allegations surfaced that Chávez had sent supporters to fire at the crowds, a team of officers and opposition leaders forced the president out of office.
Carmona was named interim president, but quickly alienated his military allies by doing away with the pro-Chávez Supreme Court, constitution and National Assembly.
By Saturday afternoon, the coup crumbled.
Carmona was forced to put congress back in place and scale back other Draconian measures. With Chávez resisting the overthrow, Carmona was tossed out and replaced by Cabello, Chávez's vice president.
''What a big mistake, chico,'' Chávez said. ``They stuck it in his head that he'd be president. . . . He's in a big jam now.''
Chávez said people like Carmona plotted the overthrow for months.
As proof, Chávez noted that the interim government left behind a presidential sash at the Miraflores palace, claiming the plotters had it made months before in preparation for the coup.
The Chávez government is also convinced that even the mass uprising of protesters Thursday was far from spontaneous.
''Who pushed an enormous mass of Venezuelans to come to Miraflores where they knew 20,000 people were there waiting for whoever was coming?'' Cabello said. ``They are, morally at least, responsible for a great number of deaths.''
2 YEARS IN PRISON
Chávez himself served two years in prison for attempting an overthrow of former president Carlos Andrés Pérez in 1992. Like this weekend's mutiny, Chávez's revolt failed and he landed in jail.
During his two days of detention Friday and Saturday, Chávez said he found himself thinking about those days behind bars. Calling himself the ''Prisoner President,'' he penned poetry. .
Chávez declined to comment on the Bush administration's tepid response to his overthrow and quick comeback.
Deciding against ''diplomacy by microphone,'' instead he continued his call for national dialogue, and urged the opposition to join him in future round table discussions.
''For a kiss,'' he said, ``you need two mouths.''
I too doubt there'll be a next time. Right now his mentor in Havana is wagging his finger and telling Hugo "I told ya!" There are no coups, successful or otherwise, in communist countries, in totalitarian police states.
The underclass of Venezuela will be more than happy to fill the ranks of secret police and party bureaucracies, the way the underclasses in Eastern Europe had done and the way the underclass of this country fills the ranks of our own gubmint agencies. The only thing missing from this comparison is the intellectual class, which in Venezuela unlike in the other Communist countries, doesn't seem to be on the side of the Revolution (unless I've been misinformed.) Intellectuals and disaffected, guilt ridden aristocrats are in Communist paradises given the task of conceptualizing and organizing the police state apparatus. Oh well, Cuban advisers will be more than happy to assist.
My bet is they had some inkling of it. Chavez must have had these Brownshirts around for a while and the military should have known they were potential trouble. If they didn't think of it, they were remiss. If we knew Chavez was trouble by observing him from this country, they must have realized it even moreso there.
I think they just tried to do the best with the cards that were dealt and weren't prepared.
You're probably right. They weren't prepared. They should have been smart enought to know you don't ask a Marxist to "resign". It's never successful, so they should have put together a better plan before they moved. Once they moved, they should have gone all the way - not take half-measures.
January 2002 - Venezuela's Chavez Steps up Verbal Attacks On Church-- Calls It a "Tumor" for the Country's "Revolution" ***CARACAS, Venezuela, (Zenit.org).- Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez assailed the country´s Catholic bishops, accusing them of not "walking in the way of God" because they do not openly support the political leader´s "revolution." ….In past months, Chávez has tried, unsuccessfully, to establish a Church loyal to his government (similar to that in China), separated from the bishops, with priests and former priests who subscribe to his Marxist ideology.
His criticisms against the Church grew harsher after 80,000 protesters marched last Wednesday in Caracas in opposition to his government. This was the largest protest against the 3-year-old Chávez government. As a result, the president has sped up the militarization of his regime with the appointment of Ramón Rodríguez Chacín as Interior Minister. Chacín was a navy captain who took part in the failed 1992 coup organized by Chávez himself.
The appointment followed soon after the suspension of Vice President Adina Bastidas, who was replaced by Diosdado Cabello, a retired colonel who also took part in the failed coup against democracy. Four other military men of the unsuccessful coup are now in the Cabinet. At least 50 soldiers occupy midlevel posts in government, the diplomatic corps and state-run enterprises. ***
February 2002 - Chavez Tries Charm to Disarm Critics (Russian and Cuban security advisers in Venezuela) ***The official said he was also concerned at the growing role of Russian and Cuban security advisers in Venezuela. Egui Bastidas said he had experienced "the direct participation and the attempts at indoctrination by the Russian and Cuban intelligence services, who have direct and virtually unlimited access within the Helicoide (DISIP's headquarters building)." The official's lawyer, former DISIP Secretary-General Joaquin Chaffardet, said around 100 members of the Cuban intelligence services are currently operating in Venezuela. The new allegations would, if proven, further strain the already difficult relationship between the United States and Venezuela.***
Cordially,
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