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A Times Editorial
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 18, 2002
Two days in prison during an aborted coup against him probably won't be enough to make a changed man of Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez. He returned to the presidential palace Sunday a humbled demagogue, but it would be naive to believe the master manipulator is eager to end the turbulence that has surrounded his three-year rule. Chavez has a new lease, but the popular support will fade if he fails to repair relationships across the spectrum of Venezuelan society.
The best news associated with events in Venezuela was that the leaders of other Latin American nations stepped in to defend democracy after military and business leaders tried to oust Chavez. Few of those leaders have any sympathy for Chavez, whose only real ally in the region is Fidel Castro. But those leaders do care about the future of democracy in the region. Whatever his flaws, Chavez was freely elected -- and Venezuelans, having become disenchanted with Chavez's divisive style and failure to deliver on his populist promises, can vote him out of office soon enough.
It's too bad the world's greatest democracy wasn't as constant in defense of those principles as most of the region's fledgling democracies were. Washington's delay in condemning the coup has damaged the Bush administration in Latin America. The news that U.S. officials met with the coup plotters beforehand rekindled even uglier memories of Washington's past support for right-wing dictatorships in the region.
In the end, though, Washington resisted its historic urge to become more involved in propping up Chavez's opponents, and the will of democratic action prevailed. By folding, the coup plotters acknowledged the rule of law and practical reality. Political isolation would have hurt Venezuela more than waiting for the pace of democracy to force a change in presidential leadership.
Chavez claims he got the message, and in public remarks since his return, he has dropped his usual inflammatory language. He has a tough job ahead reconciling the country, repairing divisions in the military caused by the coup and regaining international confidence in his leadership. Despite the show of support by regional leaders, Chavez has become a symbol of instability -- setting rich against the poor, alienating the middle class and picking battles with important social institutions, from labor unions and the media to the Catholic Church.
The Bush administration's displeasure with Chavez is understandable. His ties to Cuba and Iraq, his alleged support for Colombia's leftist rebels and his threatening moves against Venezuela's state-owned oil company have aggravated relations between him and the United States. Both nations need to move this strained relationship beyond its present crisis.