Posted on 05/18/2002 6:15:01 AM PDT by Axion
General: Chavez Sought Excuse To Suspend Civil Liberties Venezuelan Army Division Gen. Efrain Vasquez Velasco, the most visible leader of the April 11 military rebellion that briefly toppled President Hugo Chavez, said May 17 that the Chavez regime several months ago began laying plans to deliberately trigger violent confrontations in order to justify suspending political and civil liberties.
17 May 2002
During a public National Assembly hearing, Vasquez Velazco said he was physically present at several meetings in which Chavez and other senior government officials discussed using Bolivarian Circle militia members -- combined with soldiers supported by tanks -- to provoke a violent confrontation with anti-Chavez groups and then use the National Armed Forces (FAN) to restore order under martial law.
Vasquez Velasco testified that he met with Chavez on Jan. 23 to discuss domestic national security issues and became "very worried" by the president's remarks, but he declined to elaborate further in his testimony. He also said that two weeks later, on Feb. 7, he attended a security planning session in then-Vice President Diosdado Cabello's office, which also included then-Defense Minister Jose Vicente Rangel and then-Interior and Justice Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, the FAN's top commanding officers, and several senior members of the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) party.
Vasquez Velasco testified that he attended a second planning session at Miraflores presidential palace during the height of the Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) strike on April 7. At that meeting, which included ministers like Cabello and Rangel as well as the attorney general, senior FAN officials and MVR leaders, the Chavez regime's Political Committee of the Revolution -- which is headed by a former Marxist guerrilla -- was assigned the task of controlling the Bolivarian Circles and public sector unions charged with disrupting the PDVSA strike and any resulting anti-Chavez protests.
The Bolivarian Circles were given the mission of occupying areas around the presidential palace and PDVSA's office buildings throughout Caracas, while "regional commands" in the interior were tasked with transporting Bolivarian Circle members to Caracas to heighten the public's confusion by spreading oil and nails in the streets to tie up vehicle traffic.
Vasquez Velasco added that, during the April 7 meeting, a plan also was drafted to declare a state of emergency in several stages -- culminating in the complete suspension of civil and political liberties. The FAN would enforce the suspension through the Avila plan, which was designed to halt massive social disturbances like the February 1989 riots in Caracas that left more than 300 dead. The Avila plan provides for the government to bring tanks and soldiers into the streets to suppress major violence by any means necessary.
The general further testified that on the morning of April 11, several hours before an anti-Chavez march by nearly 500,000 protesters was disrupted by gunfire, he met with then-Defense Minister Rangel and other senior FAN officials to demand the withdrawal of Bolivarian Circle militias from the streets around the presidential palace. However, Rangel refused the military's request.
January 23, 2002 - Rivals Mark Venezuela Anniversary (march for and against Chavez's power grab)*** CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marched in Caracas on Wednesday both for and against the government as the country marked the 44th anniversary of independence. An anti-government crowd estimated at just above 100,000 banged pots, pans and drums and complained the government threatens liberties gained since a popular uprising ousted Venezuela's last dictator on Jan. 23, 1958. Blocks away, an enthusiastic crowd of similar size marched to support President Hugo Chavez. Supporters claim the president is delivering the country from a corrupt oligarchy that took over after Gen. Marcos Perez Jimenez was ousted. Chavez, wearing a red beret, joined the march and was mobbed by jubilant supporters. ***
February 6, 2002 - U.S. Criticizes Venezuela President's Style -Colin Powell: "We have been concerned with some of the actions of Venezuelan President Chavez and his understanding of what a democratic system is all about. We have also gone to some of our friends in the region to suggest to President Chavez that there are perhaps better ways to ... deal with the challenges his country is facing."***
February 7, 2002 - Venezuelan Chavez Says He's Democrat Not Communist *** "I am not a communist. ... I am very clear about which direction my country is going," the 47-year-old president, who is known for his abrasive, outspoken leadership style, said in the city of Maracay after swearing in a new trade minister. In an indirect response to critical comments made on Tuesday by Secretary of State Colin Powell, Chavez firmly defended his government's right to follow the policies it chose "because this is a sovereign and independent nation." Chavez, a firebrand populist who won a 1998 election six years after attempting a coup, spoke a day after Powell criticized his ideas on democracy, his fraternizing with U.S. enemies and his questioning of the war on terrorism. Powell's remarks dealt a further blow to already-falling investor confidence in Venezuela, the world's No. 4 oil exporter and a leading supplier of crude to the United States.***
April 7, 2002 - Chavez strikes back at protesting oil execs - tankers unable to load***Fedecamaras, the country's largest business association, said its members would join the strike. It will be the second time in Chavez's 3-year-old presidency that union workers and business leaders joined to paralyze the country. Undeterred by the firings,PDVSA employees staged a noisy protest outside the corporation's Caracas headquarters, chanting "not one step back" and banging pots and pans. "Our patience in this conflict has been obvious," Chavez said in his weekly radio show. "We have been soft. That has been our error. They have crossed the line." "Tomorrow there may be more" firings, he added.***
Horse crap. I have a copy of his draft resignation letter in his own infantile handwriting which would not have been written (printed) if he had not intended to resign.
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