Venezuelan colonel denounces President Chavez at freedom of speech forum

dailynews.yahoo.com ^ | February 7, 2002 | JAMES ANDERSON, AP

[Cincinatus' Wife]

CARACAS, Venezuela - An air force colonel declared that President Hugo Chavez was threatening Venezuela's democracy in a surprise appearance at a news media forum Thursday, the strongest sign yet of resentment within the military toward Chavez.

A uniformed Col. Pedro Luis Soto stepped up to the podium and declared, "This is not a democratic government."

"We are going to say "No" to (Chavez's) pretensions to oppress a people who elected him to govern. We won't accept it," Soto said, claiming he was speaking for a "majority" of officers and soldiers.

Armed Forces Chief Gen. Lucas Rincon denied that most officers and soldiers were unhappy with the government. He said Soto has been disgruntled for "years" because he has been passed up for promotion.

"He is speaking for himself. It's not the position of the Armed Forces," Rincon told Globovision televison. He said Soto would face "consequences" for his dissent but did not specify what they would be.

However, in recent months, retired military officers have stepped up their criticism of Chavez, and a weekend communique published by a group claiming to represent 3,400 active soldiers lambasted the president. The government dismissed it as a hoax and insists Venezuela's military solidly supports its commander-in-chief.

Thursday's forum coincided with an investigative trip by an Organization of American States human rights officer into complaints about government curbs on the news media. Chavez's government claims there is total freedom of expression in Venezuela.

"We are here to tell the president that freedom of expression is one of the most important things ... and no one is going to take it away from us," Soto declared to applause.

"We are going to fight with all of our strength," he said. "It cannot be that the president is thinking we elected him to be the owner of Venezuela."

Chavez had no immediate response to Soto's comments during a speech at a school inauguration.

Soto was passed over for promotion to general in 2000 and occupies a post in the armed forces' inspector general's office, Globovision television reported. He once served as chief press spokesman for the Venezuelan Air Force.

Under Chavez, the military has been assigned an increasingly prominent role in government and in dispensing social services. Some officers reportedly have objected to Chavez's attempts to distance Venezuela from Washington and his close ties to Cuba's Fidel Castro. They recall the army had to fight Castro-backed guerrillas in the 1960s.

Chavez, a former army officer who led a failed 1992 coup against then-President Carlos Andres Perez, was overwhelmingly elected president in 1998 on a platform of eliminating corruption in government and improving the plight of Venezuela's majority poor.

But his popularity rating has dropped below 30 percent as he has fought with the private sector, labor unions, a fragmented opposition and the Roman Catholic Church. Crime is untamed, Venezuela's oil-dependent economy is suffering, and foreigners have pulled billions of investment dollars out of the country.

Opposition activists have become more confident after a successful Dec. 10 general strike, called to protest Chavez's economic policies, virtually paralyzed the nation.

Soto said he'd likely be punished for his remarks. "I'm not afraid," he said. "I assume all the responsibility and all of the risks."

[Cincinatus' Wife]

(February 6, 2002) U.S. Criticizes Venezuela President's Style -Colin Powell: "We have been concerned with some of the actions of Venezuelan President Chavez and his understanding of what a democratic system is all about. We have also gone to some of our friends in the region to suggest to President Chavez that there are perhaps better ways to ... deal with the challenges his country is facing."