US led coup in Venezuela

“CARACAS, Venezuela (CNN) -- The U.S. government chided ousted Venezuela President Hugo Chavez on Friday, saying his government provoked the crisis that led to his expulsion and expressing tentative support for the interim administration.

Chavez relinquished power early Friday after a day of violent protests in Caracas that left 12 people dead and dozens wounded. Witnesses and television reports said sharpshooters fired into the crowd and that a military tribunal would investigate who ordered the shootings.

"Chavez supporters, on orders, fired on unarmed, peaceful demonstrators," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said, referring to Thursday's violence that killed 12 people and wounded dozens more. "Venezuelan military and police refused to fire ... and refused to support the government's role in human rights violations."

The inspector general of Venezuela's armed forces, Lucas Rincon Romero, announced Chavez's resignation at 3:25 a.m. Friday. The ousted president is now being held by the military at Fort Tiuna, the army's general headquarters in Caracas.

Pedro Carmona Estanga, the head of Venezuela's largest business association, has been named the leader of an interim government. The president of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Carmona was one of the most visible leaders of the opposition movement to Chavez.

He appeared on television Friday, flanked by all the nation's top military commanders, and said one of his first acts in office would be to rehire state oil company workers Chavez fired.

"I promise that we will not fail in this difficult task we have received," Carmona said.

The dismissals and general discord over the former administration's handling of Petroleos de Venezuela sparked several protests in recent weeks, capped by Thursday's demonstration of hundreds of thousands of people.

The new government announced Friday that it would hold elections within a year.

Chavez has asked the Organization of American States and other international organizations to intervene, the woman said. Members of her family and high-ranking members of Chavez's government, including the vice president, are in hiding, she added.

"This is a coup d'etat which they are trying to cover up with a so-called resignation," said the woman.

You can bet that Dubya had his evil hands in this one based on the reaction or lack thereof. This was a democratically elected government, overthrown with US help for the purpose of getting the oil flowing to the US again.

Death to Dubya's evildoing.”

“Dude, instead of playing armchair politician, how about running for president?”

“This sounds a bit like the U.S. sponsored ousting of the elected government in Iran in the early '50s.

That was done get Anglo-Persian back in control of its oil production there.”

“The presidents men wouldn't be tampering with oil producing politics----how many of the "Bushy friends" had oil shorts in place for the "aftermathmarket".”

“If Camaro or whatever his name was was thrown out in a coup, was it a recoup when he got back in? Who backed that? Boy Scout Fidel?”

“Got that wrong, I think it was Chavez out, Camaro in ,Camaro Out Chavez In.”

“And you shake it all about!”

“This failed coup was orchestrated by the Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers or the Venezuelan equivalent.

In the U.S. those are the organizations whose members started the John Birch Society.

Fascism thwarted?”

“oops.”

“You put your left foot in, you take your left foot out,....

Let see, we've had left and right in, this must be the shake it all about part.”

“Sorry,that little coup was just practice.need a few days to spend the money made off of that little jolt.then we'll regroup.”

“GDE, you gave absolutely nothing to support your allegation in the thread title that this was a "US led operation".”

“There is already speculation that Chavez planned this "coup" to consolidate his power and root out the turncoats in his government, not unlike Saddam Hussein. As a matter of fact, Saddam probably lent him his copy of "Dictatorships for Dummies" when Chavez visited him earlier this year.”

“President Bush, who considers himself a champion of democracy and moral clarity in foreign relations, has been embarrassed by his administration's quick embrace of the Carmona presidency, which lasted two days before Chavez returned to power.

"We're encouraged by President Chavez's calls for national reflection," State Department spokesman Phil Reeker said Monday. "And we urge all Venezuelans to take advantage of this opportunity to promote national reconciliation and a genuine democratic dialogue."

Chavez appeared to have been driven from power Friday by military officers following violent street demonstrations against his rule, only to be reinstated Sunday after large protests by his supporters.

On Monday, he called on Venezuelans "to reunite, to reflect" and said he would begin talks with opposition leaders Tuesday.

The United States long has been at odds with Chavez, particularly because of his friendly relations with Cuba, Iraq, Libya and Iran. And their support for Columbian freedom fighters.

Despite the U.S. insistence that nations in the Western Hemisphere follow democratic procedures, the Bush administration did not protest when the popularly elected Chavez was forced from office Friday.

While Latin American leaders were condemning the coup, the State Department said Chavez was to blame for his fate. A spokesman charged that Chavez authorized followers to open fire on demonstrators, leaving more than a dozen dead and hundreds wounded.

By Paul Richter
Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration scrambled yesterday to explain why it failed to denounce the would-be coup that briefly swept Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez from office last week, an attempt that Latin American leaders decried as an attack on a democratically elected leader.

While others in the region were urging Chávez's restoration to power, the White House initially blamed the coup attempt on the president's own actions. Only on Sunday, when Chávez regained his authority after two days, did the United States join other members of the Organization of American States in a vaguely worded resolution that condemned the "alteration of constitutional order in Venezuela."

A populist strongman with Marxist leanings, Chávez allegedly supports Colombian rebel groups that the United States considers terrorists and drug traffickers, and has sought closer ties to Iraq, Libya and Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Chávez has also sought to limit his country's oil production in a way that would increase prices in the United States. Venezuela is the fourth-largest supplier of oil to the United States, exporting around 1.5 million barrels a day to U.S. terminals.

But he was legitimately elected, and some Latin American diplomats and other experts said the United States — which has led international efforts to deter the overthrow of democratic governments — could be hurt by its failure to condemn the abortive coup.

One Latin American diplomat in Washington said the U.S. reaction "has been noted" in the hemisphere and could upset leaders in countries that might be threatened by coups.

Michael Coppedge, a Latin American specialist at Notre Dame University, said the differences in the U.S. and Latin American reactions to the attempted coup had left the United States isolated and in a "very difficult position." Some people in the hemisphere may come to view the United States as hypocritical, he said.

Philip Reeker, the State Department spokesman, said U.S. officials had limited their comments on Friday because it was unclear what had happened in Venezuela and who was in charge. However, U.S. officials continued to refrain from welcoming the return of Chávez and made clear that they believe the Chávez government needs to launch a number of reforms to be considered fully democratic.

Yesterday, Chávez replaced members of the military high command that arrested him but said "a lot of Machiavellian people planned this operation. ... It was not just a military coup. The intellectual authors were not military personnel."”

“nice Pathman...interesting read.”

“CARACAS, Venezuela -- A U.S. Embassy official said Thursday U.S. personnel worked with last week's failed coup attempt in Venezuela. A source in the president's office claims the U.S. military attache in Caracas was with coup planners hours before Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was overthrown.

The embassy official said a U.S. military attache also attended a news conference at the base held by Gen. Efrain Vasquez Velasco, one of the coup leaders.The attache was at the armed forces inspector general's office at Fort Tiuna "during the preparation for and up until the coup," the source told Agence France-Presse .

Observers have suggested the United States might have played a role in the coup attempt because it has frequently been at odds with Chavez, a left-wing populist friendly to the regimes of Fidel Castro in Cuba and Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

The Bush administration said Tuesday it did not encourage the coup, but acknowledged holding "conversations" with opposition leaders in that oil-rich country, as well as a meeting with Venezuela's military chief-of-staff late last year.”

“WASHINGTON (AP) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Friday he has documentary evidence that the United States plans to invade his country.

Chavez, interviewed on ABC's "Nightline," said the plan is called "Balboa" and involves aircraft carriers and planes. A transcript of the interview was made available by "Nightline."

He said U.S. soldiers recently went to Curacao, an island off Venezuela's northwest coast. He described as a "lie" the official U.S. explanation that they visited Curacao for rest and recreation.

"They were doing movements. They were doing maneuvers," Chavez said, speaking through a translator.

He added: "We are coming up with the counter-Balboa plan. That is to say if the government of the United States attempts to commit the foolhardy enterprise of attacking us, it would be embarked on a 100-year war. We are prepared."

Chavez has been attending the summit of world leaders at the United Nations in New York this week. On Thursday, he denounced the U.S.-led war in Iraq and told other leaders they should consider moving the U.N. headquarters out of the United States.

To prove U.S. intentions to invade Venezuela, Chavez offered to send "Nightline" host Ted Koppel maps and other documentation.

"What I can't tell you his how we got it, to protect the sources, how we got it through military intelligence," he said.

In the event of a U.S. invasion, Chavez said the United States can "just forget" about receiving any more oil from his country.


http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/09/16/chavez.ap/index.html”

“Nice to know Bush has plans for invading other countries, but no contingencies or foresight for a major hurricane striking the USA.”

“See why a lost blond girl in Aruba was such a big deal.FBI,CIA,SEALS and the news media were there for the didn't happen invasion.The next invasion will be the Atlantic Ocean ,that's where those WMDicanes come from.”

“you have nothing to lose but your brains.”

“Which would put us un the same level as you and Bush... with No brains ?”

“I think we have "plans" to invade just about every country in the world. Its gives our junior officers something to do and our senior officers something to talk about. After all if you have plans ahead of time you can change them easily to fit the situation. Now why its news to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez only shows that he is a poor leader.”

“What??? If we did invade his country how could we not have access to his oil????

Maybe now's the time to buy a house down there for living abroad. Once the U.S. invades the place, I think prices will go up:)”

“It's hard to know what to make of this. Is Chavez playing to a domestic audience? Is he spooked because of Bush's readiness to embrace the coup leaders 3 1/2 years ago, because of the history of other US actions (e.g. the fate of Allende) and Pat Robertsons recent calls for his assasination? Is the US preparing for some contingency in Venezuela? If so, did Chavez misinterpret or correctly interpret it?”

“Ped, I often wonder if the Bush adminstration even knows what it is doing.

I do find it interesting that this original thread was posted in what 2002 and now it is being talked about on Nightline.”

“I wonder, too Ewker.

I think the reason it's all coming up again is that 1) Chavez is raising issues, 2) Pat Robertson talked about assasinating Chavez a couple weeks ago.”