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mid chaos, generals turn on Chavez
by Phil Gunson
and David Adams
St. Petersburg Times
April 12, 2002
The sudden collapse of Chavez's three-year-old rule came after a three-day national strike that culminated Thursday with mass demonstration by hundreds of thousands of government opponents. As protesters neared the palace, government troops opened fired with live rounds and tear gas, according to eyewitnesses. "No one was expecting it. It was an ambush," said local journalist Euridice Ledezma, who described seeing plain-clothed snipers firing from the roof of the Caracas town hall, a bastion of government supporters... At one point in the afternoon, it seemed the country was sliding into dictatorship. Chavez responded to the protests by ordering the signals of all independent television stations shut down. In a national address, he vowed to remain in power, blaming the protest on "irresponsible" media provocation... Dissenting military officers also took over the government TV station, Channel 8, and began broadcasting messages calling on the president to resign. Soon after, in an emotional television address, army chief Gen. Efrain Vasquez apologized to the country for the bloodshed. "Today all human rights were violated," he said standing with other members of the High Command. "The honor of the armed forces has been stained. We ask for forgiveness from the Venezuelan people."

The bad news is, Chavez wound up back in power shortly after being removed. He and his cadre should have been tried for treason and executed on TV.