Hugo Chavez is down: Sila Calderon, Marulanda and Fidel are next...

[El_Jibaro]

[i]VENEZUELA PRESIDENT FORCED OUT
BBC NEWS
Friday, 12 April, 2002, 12:01 GMT 13:01 UK


The military is on a state of high alert

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is being held at a military barracks in the capital Caracas after being forced to resign by the country's military.
The end of Mr Chavez's three years in power came after a three-day general strike ended in a violent demonstration on Thursday in which 11 people died.

"I want to call on the glorious Venezuelan people to stay calm and to the army to set an example of civility, rejecting any incitement to violence"

General Lucar Rincon

The bloodshed triggered a rebellion by the country's military.

Pedro Carmona, the head of the Venezuelan business association Fedecamaras, has said that he will head a transitional government at the request of the armed forces.

He said the government would be made up of military and civilian personnel, and he announced an immediate end to the general strike.

The strike has crippled the oil industry in Venezuela - the world's fourth largest oil exporter.

OIL PRICES FALL

In London, oil prices fell at the start of trading following Mr Chavez's resignation.

Opec, the cartel of leading oil exporting nations, said it was "concerned" by the situation in Venezuela, fearing the country might increase its oil output in order to boost state finances.

Thursday's opposition rally was in support of striking managers at the state oil company, who said Mr Chavez had tried to take it over by filling the board with his supporters.

Eyewitnesses said snipers had opened fire on a crowd of more than 150,000. As well as 11 dead, more than 80 were injured.


Business leader Pedro Carmona is to head a transitional government

Mr Chavez appeared on the state-run television channel denouncing the protest, while independent TV channels were taken off the air by order of the government.

However, Finance Minister Francisco Uson, who is an army general, and National Guard chief Luis Camacho Kairuz resigned in protest at the killings.

They were joined by 10 other high-ranking military officers rebelling against Mr Chavez.

Mr Chavez finally quit after overnight talks with a delegation of generals at the Miraflores presidential palace.

APPEALS FOR CALM

"The president was asked to resign from his post and he accepted," armed forces chief General Lucar Rincon said.

"I want to call on the glorious Venezuelan people to stay calm and to the army to set an example of civility, rejecting any incitement to violence. Keep faith in your national armed forces," the general said.

The United States said it was watching developments closely.

Mr Chavez was driven away from the presidential palace to the Fuerte Tiuna military barracks in Caracas.


Opposition groups came under fire at the protest

General Efrain Vasquez Velasco said he was being held there while investigators decide what charges he could face for Thursday's violence.

Spanish radio reported that Mr Chavez had asked to be allowed to leave the country for Cuba.

The BBC's Adam Easton, in Caracas, says there are noisy celebrations on the streets, with crowds gathering at La Carlota airport in Caracas hoping to see Mr Chavez depart.

Guaicaipuro Lameda - a former army general and until recently president of Venezuela's state oil monopoly - said Mr Chavez's administration had been condemned because it began arming citizens' committees.

He said it was these armed groups that had fired at opposition protesters.

Mr Chavez's wife, Marisabel Rodriguez, was reported to have left Caracas on Thursday night with their children and flown to her home town of Barquisimeto.

Italian airline Alitalia said it was cancelling flights on Friday to and from Caracas for "security reasons" after the rioting in the Venezuelan capital.

Mr Chavez won a landslide election victory in 1998, six years after he led an abortive coup as a young army officer.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/wor...00/1925161.stm

Sila Calderon and Hugo Chavez hug when she was inaugurated in January 2001...

PS, "dear" Mr. Caín-Chabón:

Your use of the term "bugarrones mamones" reveals you are not Puerto Rican, but perhaps Cuban. Are you the goon who stole the C.R.I.M. money and now lives in Miramar, Cuba ?[b]

[Nacionalista]

Excellent news about Venezuela. We need Venezuela to stay democratic so the Republic of Puerto Rico can do better business with them in the near future.

[El_Jibaro]

[i]VENEZUELA'S CHAVEZ STEPS DOWN AFTER MASSIVE PROTESTS, MILITARY PRESSURE

FOX NEWS Friday, April 12, 2002


Wednesday: Police arrest a Chavista, a supporter of President Chavez, during clashes in Caracas.

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez, whose ties to Cuba and Iraq irked the United States, stepped down Friday after a massive opposition demonstration ended in the deaths of at least 13 people.

The former army paratrooper, 47, presented his resignation to top military commanders when they confronted him in his presidential palace. Dressed in the same outfit he wore when he led a failed 1992 coup – military fatigues and a green beret – Chavez left the palace before dawn and was detained in Caracas' Fort Tiuna army base.

Thursday's protest, 150,000-strong, became bloody when Chavez ordered National Guard troops and civilian gunmen, including rooftop snipers, to stop the marchers from reaching the palace, military officers said. At least 110 people were wounded in downtown Caracas.

Opposition to Chavez's three-year presidency had been mounting for some time. His popularity ratings, at one point soaring to 80 percent, plummeted to below 30 percent this year after he repeatedly accused business leaders, labor, the news media and even Roman Catholic Church leaders of conspiring to unseat him.

The Venezuelan armed forces have traditionally had strong ties to the U.S. military, and resented Chavez's distancing of Venezuela from Washington. Many also took issue with the president's ties with leftist Colombian guerrillas and with Fidel Castro's Cuba, as numerous senior officers had fought against Cuban-backed communist guerrillas in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Police warned Friday that backers of the president, known as "Chavistas," were reportedly handing out weapons, especially in the hillside slums surrounding the capital, where Chavez has long had strong support among the poor. Officers seized dozens of firearms in raids of storehouses.

Executives at Venezuela's state oil monopoly were jubilant over Chavez's ouster and promised to bring production up to speed as quickly as possible after being engaged in a work slowdown. Venezuela is fourth biggest oil exporter in the world and the No. 3 supplier of oil to the United States.

Upon news of Chavez's downfall, expectations of a production increase drove oil prices down. Oil markets have been concerned over supply after Iraq's decision this week to suspend exports to allies of Israel.

Pedro Carmona, head of Venezuela's largest business association, announced he would head a transitional government to be installed later Friday.

Chavez was being held at the army base while investigators decide what charges could be brought against him for Thursday's violence, said army commander Gen. Efrain Vasquez Velasco. Chavez asked to be allowed to go into exile in Cuba, but the military rejected his offer, army Gen. Roman Fuemayor told Globovision television. "He has to be held accountable to his country," Fuemayor said.

AP
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez [b]

In downtown Caracas, streets were littered with debris – and in some places, stained with blood. After a night when thousands went out and celebrated, shops and businesses remained closed, and most people simply stayed home, stunned and wondering what would come next. Buses were half-empty, and those reporting to work hurried amidst rubble-strewn sidewalks.

"I urge Venezuelans to maintain calm, to keep faith, to continue working on the road toward democracy, freedom and peace," said retired Gen. Guaicaipuro Lameda, who until February headed the oil company and was a leader of the movement to oust Chavez. "It's with sadness that to reach this point, so many people had to die, so many wounded."

The Bush administration said it was closely monitoring the upheaval in Venezuela. "Our interests are in democracy and democratic institutions," said a senior U.S. official traveling with Secretary of State Colin Powell in Jerusalem.

In London, Brent crude oil opened 44 cents down from Thursday at $24.60 per barrel. In New York, May contracts of light sweet U.S. crude fell 46 cents a barrel to $24.53.

Cuba, whose leader Castro is a personal friend of Chavez, denounced the Venezuelan's overthrow, with the Communist Party daily Granma saying it was the result of a "conspiracy" by the country's wealthy classes, corrupt politicians and news media.

The rapid developments stunned this oil-rich, yet poverty-stricken nation.

The demonstration in Caracas late Thursday was the culmination of a strike called by the 1 million-member Venezuelan Workers Confederation and the business association Fedecamaras. The strike was in support of the protesting executives at the state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela.

National Guard troops fired tear gas at the front ranks of marchers bearing sticks and throwing rocks. Tear gas drifted into the presidential compound. Rooftop snipers and Chavez supporters repeatedly fired upon the protesters and even ambulance crews trying to evacuate the wounded. As many as 110 people were wounded, Greater Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena said.

As the bloodbath unfolded, Chavez ordered five Caracas television stations off the air.

The wave of protests marked the end for a president whose rule had been a stormy one.

Chavez had irritated Washington with his close ties to Castro, visits to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and to Libya, and criticism of U.S. bombings in Afghanistan.

And he had alienated virtually every sector of Venezuelan society, with his attacks on the news media and Roman Catholic Church leaders, his refusal to consult with business leaders, and his failed attempt to assert control over labor groups.

Chavez's government also inherited a staggering $21 billion in back wages and pensions owed workers by previous administrations – a debt he was unable to pay.

His suspected ties to Colombia's leftist guerrillas angered many in the military and abroad.

Domestic opponents claimed his government was secretly arming neighborhood block committees known as "Bolivarian Circles," named after South American liberator Simon Bolivar, to defend his revolution. The Circles were created after Castro urged Chavez's supporters to organize during a 2000 visit.

For Chavez, who on Tuesday boasted he would remain president until 2021, the end came quickly.

Just last Friday, he refused to negotiate with the striking oil executives, who were demanding that he remove a company board he had appointed Feb. 25. The executives claimed Chavez was trying to strengthen his hold on a multinational corporation that cherishes its autonomy.

The executives' slowdown cut production at the Paraguana refinery complex, one of the world's largest, to below 50 percent capacity. They closed another refinery and all but stopped loading of oil tankers. Oil generates 80 percent of Venezuela's foreign earnings.

The Air Force chief, Gen. Regulo Anselmi, said the military urged Chavez on Wednesday to negotiate. He agreed, but by then the oil executives had rejected such overtures.

After Thursday's violence, the high command decided Chavez had to go, and they confronted him en masse in his offices, Anselmi said. Troops seized the government television station as tanks rumbled on the streets.

Chavez finally handed his resignation to Anselmi, Armed Forces Inspector General Gen. Lucas Rincon Romero and National Guard commander Gen. Belisario Landis.

"We ask the Venezuelan people's forgiveness for today's events," said Vasquez Velasco, the army commander. "Mr. President, I was loyal to the end, but today's deaths cannot be tolerated."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,50142,00.html

[Ecuajey]

What happened in Venezuela was very interesting.

Even though I consider Chávez a great gift to Venezuela, he was also a hardheaded man. Though, after weeks of protests, organized by opposition parties and business leaders who want their special place in Venezuela to control over the masses, this is the first time he actually did something to stop it. The people had their peaceful demonstrations for weeks. Though, yesterday they clashed with pro-Chávez demonstrators, and marched up to the Presidential palace, shouting out they wanted to kill Chávez. I think Chávez and his government, felt they were in danger. Though, I don't think he handled it they way it should of been. Without the snipers! Other Latin American governments have done worse, much worse! Look at Perú, Panama, or Ecuador. Those governments that were overthrown, were less democratic and more oppressive then in Venezuela.

It is also interesting that ever since Chávez's coalition of political parties in Venezuela relinquished their support for him, his public support decreased. What was in his coalition? Communist and Socialist parties. They either wanted him to be more radical, or less radical. That, plus the conservatives, which were allowed to freely speak against Chávez and create protests, halting business in Venezuela, his support decreased from 80% to 30%. Also, his approval ratings were far higher then those of official opposition leaders. It shows that most of Venezuela seems to be somewhat Socialist, if the largest Communist and Socialist parties in Venezuela left Chávez and right after that his popularity decreased 50%....

It is also interesting that after Chávez cut oil production, which increased the price of oil, giving more income to Venezuela, which is largely impoverished, there was a military coup, which is very undemocratic.

It is also interesting that the new Interim President, Pedro Carmona, who is a rightist businessman dismantled the elected Congress of Venezuela, the Supreme Court, and the Constitution in which the people of Venezuela voted for. There is also a pasage in the Venezuelan constitution that the President resignation must be approved by Congress. Well, the people voted for the constitution, but the new Interim President seem not to care about that. Chávez's resignation was forced upon him. Carmona also hacked up production of oil, which Venezuela lost sizable amounts of income because of that. I guess the USA is involved in this, which they always are.

It is also interesting that even conservative Presidents of Latin America do not recognize the new Venezuelan government, which many of them denounced in Costa Rica at the 19 nation Rio Group. Including, México's Vicente Fox. Other Latin American Presidents, including Eduardo Duhalde of Argentina, and Luis Gonsalez of Paraguay, concider the new government illegitimate.

I wonder what they are going to do to Chávez now. Most likely kill him like they always do in Latin American coups. Does having a conservative leadership in Latin America guarantee democracy? Different political and social systems in Venezuela have been tried out and none of them have worked. This recent one has been overthrown, so what now? Do you really believe that Pedro Carmona is going to back down in a year, where he is not allowed to run for President, when he has the support of the military? Once again, democracy in Latin America has failed.

[Edited by Ecuajey on 13th April 2002 at 21:15]

[Ecuajey]

I spoke too fast. Chávez might be coming back from th latest news. Though, remember, Juan Bosch in the Dominican Republic, how the USA stepped in to crush the uprising in support of Boschs' return. Let's see what happens!

[El_Jibaro]

[b][i]What we have here is the application of all the "lessons learned" by Joe Stalin.

This was just a FAKED Coup!!!

What awaits Venezuela now is the First Installment of MASSIVE STALINIST PURGES .

First to go will be the Military Officials who were DUPED by the FAKED Coup.

Followed by the Civilian leaders who also swallowed the FAKED Coup.

I just hope that the USA was not DUPED by the FAKED Coup...



[Edited by El_Jibaro on 16th April 2002 at 17:10]

[Ecuajey]

Do you work for WAPA radio station in Puerto Rico? They said the same thing. jajaja I knew you were a Cuban exile, because they are the ones who run that radio program.

Anyway, if it was a fake coup, which is very unlikely it was, it doesn't matter. Hugo Chávez is still in power, and that is what matters, especially to the people of Venezuela.