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The interim president resigns as thousands demand Chavez's return. The ousted ruler could be restored to power by this morning.
By DAVID ADAMS and PHIL GUNSON
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 14, 2002
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Barely a day after the ouster of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a countercoup was poised early this morning to put him right back in power.
In a stunning reversal, politicians and troops loyal to the ousted president, backed by thousands of his supporters, retook the presidential palace.
With Chavez apparently on his way back to power, a handwritten fax purportedly from the pugnacious former paratroop commander arrived at the recently reoccupied studios of the state TV station.
In a few simple words, Chavez denied he had ever left office: "I Hugo Chavez Frias, president of the republic, have not relinquished the power given to me by the people."
Only a short while before, Chavez's vice president, Diosdado Cabello, had been sworn in as president, for what may turn out to be one of the shortest tenures in Latin American history.
Amid the wreckage of his short-lived coup, Pedro Carmona, the country's interim president of only one day, resigned.
"Before the nation, before the Venezuelan people, I present this resignation," Carmona, a leading businessman and economist, told Union Radio.
As Friday's coup unravelled, pro-Chavez military commanders lined up in defiance of the transitional government's authority.
The first sign that the coup was falling apart came in the city of Maracay, home of the country's most important military complex just an hour west of the capital. By midday Saturday thousands of troops loyal to Chavez declared themselves in rebellion against the interim government.
The leader of the Maracay rebels was Gen. Julio Garcia, former national security adviser for Chavez.
"We are on the edge of the precipice," said rebel spokesman, retired Lt. Col. Wilmer Castro, in a telephone interview from the base. "There are three divisional generals with him (Garcia) and a vice admiral."
Castro warned there was a real danger that fighting could break out between the two sides. He said the rebels had 20 battalions with them, including paratroopers and infantry. He added that Marines and National Guard units also were joining the pro-Chavez camp.
They demanded freedom for Chavez and his restoration to the presidency of the oil-rich nation.
Local residents also contacted by telephone confirmed the base was in rebel hands, with thousands of Chavez sympathizers at the gates.
Despite all the evidence, throughout the day the provisional government insisted it was in firm control of the country.
"There is no abnormal situation," Carmona said in an interview with CNN in the late afternoon. He described the incidents in Maracay and at the presidential palace as minor problems.
Carmona added that Chavez, who had not been seen in public since his downfall in the early hours of Friday, was soon to be flown into exile at his own request.
But Carmona's hold on power was already slipping. Army Chief Gen. Efrain Vasquez, head of the anti-Chavez forces, was wavering. At a news conference, he threatened to withdraw military support for Carmona unless the interim government "rectified" decrees issued the day before that he described an unconstitutional.
On Friday, Carmona, who had promised new elections within a year, dissolved the Chavez-controlled National Assembly, Supreme Court and other public offices.
Vasquez said the uprising had been against the Chavez government, not the constitution. He specifically called on Carmona to reinstate the congress.
Within minutes Carmona capitulated. He told CNN that he had decided to change course "in the best interests of the nation and to avoid confrontations."
Carmona repeated his pledge to hold legislative elections in December and offered to bring forward the presidential vote. He added he would not be running.
His announcement came in response to statements by a number of foreign governments questioning the legitimacy of the new administration, as well as pressure from its own supporters.
The head of an influential business association, Carmona, 60, was named interim president Friday after top army commanders confronted Chavez in his palace and demanded he step down. Although the military initially said Chavez had made a written resignation, a government spokesman acknowledged Saturday that the consent was only spoken.
Although the Bush administration offered its tacit support Friday to Chavez's ouster, other countries refused to recognize the new government. Leaders of the 19-nation Rio Group of Latin America, meeting in Costa Rica, condemned "the interruption of constitutional order."
In his press conference Saturday, Gen. Vasquez said the military stood by its actions. He blamed Chavez for the bloody repression of a massive opposition rally in Caracas on Thursday, in which 16 people were killed and some 350 wounded.
The military accused Chavez of ordering National Guard troops and paramilitary gunmen, including rooftop snipers, to fire on the marchers.
"The (Chavez) government lost control," he said. "This was not a coup."
But analysts said the interim government's embarrassing about-face was a direct result of the highly questionable manner in which Chavez was ousted.
"This was an unconstitutional transfer of power," said Bruce Bagley, a Latin America expert at the University of Miami. "No matter what fig leaf they use to dress it up this was a military coup in disguise."
Carmona appeared to be caught in a political tug-of-war by two rival wings within the anti-Chavez forces. Hardliners from Venezuela's politically conservative old-guard initially hoped to eliminate any institutions loyal to the former government.
But moderates, including some in the military, insisted that constitutional norms should be preserved as much as possible.
Most of the criticism was directed at the right-wing composition of the new cabinet as well as Friday's decree dissolving the congress.
"That's absolutely unacceptable," said architect Nedo Paniz, a leading anti-Chavez activist and close friend of Carmona. "The whole thing has been handled very poorly and they are in danger of losing credibility."
Paniz said the new government was under pressure to reform the cabinet to include greater political diversity, including moderate members of Chavez's own political party.
Chavez was swept to power in late 1998 on a wave of popular support, vowing a "peaceful revolution" to tackle the country's chronic poverty and reform its elitist political system. But his popularity plunged over the last year as former allies accused him of political intolerance. His government also came under attack due to a rapidly deteriorating economy and a slew of corruption allegations.
Adding to the woes of the provisional government, thousands of angry pro-Chavez demonstrators in several barrios of the capital took to the streets Saturday to demand his restoration. Marchers surrounded the presidential palace and the main military headquarters. Another group also besieged the offices of a national television network, hurling stones at the windows.
The Associated Press quoted Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena as saying nine people were killed and 40 injured in the violence.
Street protests also broke out in other cities.
"Chavez hasn't resigned, he's been kidnapped," said Angel Martinez, who joined a march of several thousand "Chav-istas' in the Petare suburb. Protesters demanded that authorities allow Chavez to appear on television to explain his condition.
Local television stations which are strongly anti-Chavez, attempted to play down the political turmoil, at the same time urging people to stay indoors. Announcers at one station, Globovision, repeatedly cautioned viewers, "We are living in times of political change." Viewers were also urged to avoid "false alarms" and "rumors."
Little coverage was also given to reports of police sweeps in the capital in a crackdown on Chavez militants. Human rights groups said they were concerned by reports of alleged abuses and arbitrary detentions.
Police on Friday arrested at least three politicians allied with Chavez, including Tarek Saab, a congressman. Saab's wife, Francis Fernino, said 100 people had gathered outside the couple's home, calling for Saab's blood before he was arrested.
Four other Chavez-allied politicians were believed to have sought refuge in the Cuban Embassy, which was besieged by some 500 protesters who trashed cars outside the compound and pelted it with eggs, demanding that the four be handed over.
-- Times Latin America correspondent David Adams and correspondent Phil Gunson are reporting from Caracas.
Civilians
HUGO CHAVEZ: His rise to the presidency in 1998 -- six years after staging a bloody, but failed coup -- was a stunning blow to the political and economic establishment in Venezuela. Early Friday, he was forced out by the military.
PEDRO CARMONA ESTANGA: Head of Venezuela's business association Fedecamaras. He resigned late Saturday as head of the transitional government. An economist with degrees from Caracas' Andres Bello Catholic University and the University of Brussels, he has represented Venezuelan commercial and diplomatic missions abroad.
DIOSDADO CABELLO: Chavez's vice president. He said late Saturday that he was acting president until Chavez returns to power.
CARLOS ORTEGA: President of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation, the country's largest union. With Carmona, organized the general strike against President Chavez.
WILLIAM LARA: President of the Congress abolished Friday and a close ally of Chavez; was present when Venezuela's military confronted Chavez and says Chavez never resigned and that he is still the constitutional president.
ISAIAS RODRIGUEZ: Attorney general in the Chavez government, he denied Chavez resigned and argued that he was still president because no resignation has been submitted or accepted by Congress, as the constitution requires.
FREDDY BERNAL: Mayor of Caracas; accused of organizing the pro-Chavez gunmen who fired on some 200,000 marchers demanding the president's resignation Thursday.
GEN. EFRAIN VASQUEZ VELASCO: Army commander-in-chief. Most of the military turned against Chavez on Thursday after the bloodshed near the presidential palace, but on Saturday Vasquez said he would only support the interim government if it restored congress and other public powers.
GUAICAIPURO LAMEDA: Retired brigadier general, who had been president of the state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, until he was removed by Chavez in February. Carmona has reinstated him. Oil workers said Friday that they will resume production.
GEN. LUCAS RINCON: Inspector general of the armed forces. Rincon and the heads of the army, navy, air force and national guard saw Chavez at the Miraflores presidential palace Thursday night and demanded he resign.