Posted on 05/18/2002 3:29:21 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela's vice president played down rumors that another military rebellion against President Hugo Chavez was in the works Friday.
"The situation is totally normal," Jose Vicente Rangel said at a news conference. Rangel said commanders throughout the nation reported the situation was calm, and blamed the rumors circulating in Caracas, the capital, on adversaries trying to incite another uprising.
Rebel military officers ousted Chavez on April 12, a day after 17 people were killed and hundreds were wounded in an opposition march. Chavez was reinstated April 14 following protests by his supporters and foreign governments. Dozens of people died in riots and looting during Chavez's ouster.
Chavez was on his first foreign trip Friday since the coup, attending a European Union-Latin America summit in Spain. He was to return Saturday.
Speculation about a new uprising included reports that the president's family had left Venezuela, that government ministers were in military custody and that high-ranking military officers were deploying tanks and troops to launch a coup.
"The most tangible proof that there isn't a problem is that (Chavez) traveled abroad," said Rangel. "There would be a basis for suspicion" if Chavez didn't go, Rangel said.
The U.S. State Department on Wednesday eased a travel warning for American citizens visiting Venezuela, though it cautioned that demonstrations and unrest can erupt at any time and urged Americans not to visit regions bordering Colombia due to kidnapping threats.
Another coup attempt in Venezuela? Sources say rebellion imminent if Chavez continues in office ***Jorge Olavarria, a seasoned political analyst who was Venezuela's ambassador to Britain and an early supporter of Chavez, told STRATFOR today, "While the Chavez government is bad, the myopic and mediocre opposition to Chavez is even worse." The threat of forthcoming violence is significant. Interior and Justice Minister Diosdado Cabello told a National Assembly hearing yesterday that Venezuela now has some 130,000 Bolivarian Circles, compared with only 80,000 a month ago, according to the daily El Universal.
During his tenure as vice president, Cabello was responsible for organizing and coordinating the Bolivarian Circles. Although STRATFOR security sources in Caracas believe Cabello is grossly exaggerating the number of Bolivarian Circles in a possible effort to intimidate the political opposition, the violent events of April 11 – when 17 civilians were killed and more than 100 were wounded by gunfire during an anti-Chavez demonstration – showed that even a small number of armed civilian militias can inflict significant physical and material damage. ***
[The Bolivarian Circles are comprised of "Chavistas," armed Chavez supporters, organized after Fidel Castro's visit to Venezuela, when he called for them to be formed to support Chavez's revolution.]
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