Posted on 06/24/2002 2:55:40 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, facing calls to resign two months after surviving a coup, on Sunday dismissed efforts by political foes to indict him for alleged embezzlement as another attempt to topple his populist government.
Chavez faces opposition accusations his three-year-old government misused state money, received improper election funds and damaged the country by selling cheap petroleum to Cuba.
"If they want to invent some crime to force me out with an indictment, they'll have to explain it to the people and to the armed forces," Chavez said during his weekly television and radio program.
"If they want to try another coup that way, they'll finish the same way as they did last time," the president said.
Chavez, a former paratrooper who himself led a failed coup attempt in 1992 before being elected president six years later, was ousted for about 48 hours in April before loyal troops restored him to the presidency. More than 60 people were killed in the coup and rioting that followed.
Two months after the rebellion, Venezuela is rife with bitter political divisions, and jitters about more upheaval have kept the world's fifth-largest oil exporter on edge.
Opposition leaders are now probing constitutional or court moves to unseat the fiery left-wing leader.
Although the Supreme Court is still examining the accusations for merit, opposition leaders hope to indict the president for allegedly misusing about $2 billion in oil income destined for a rainy-day savings fund, the Macro-Economic Stabilization Fund or FIEM.
"Nobody stole a cent. We had funds, but we also had obligations. Faced with the FIEM or the budget, we opted for the most urgent. If we had deposited in the FIEM, we wouldn't have paid the salaries of Venezuelans. If you want to indict me for that, go ahead and indict me," Chavez said.
INSTITUTIONAL COUP
During Sunday's five-hour broadcast, Chavez also dismissed accusations he improperly took funds from Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Spain's second-largest bank.
Bank officials have denied committing a crime, but acknowledged last week the bank acted without transparency when it provided $1.5 million to the president's campaigns.
The president also denied opposition charges his government hurt the economy by selling cheap petroleum to Cuba. Critics of Chavez, a close ally of Cuban President Fidel Castro, blame the president's self-proclaimed "revolution" for nudging Venezuela into recession.
"What they are doing now is planning an institutional coup.
They want to indict me, to get me out of the presidency, because supposedly I'm damaging the country by selling oil to Cuba. Go ahead and try it," the president said.
Opposition parties are trying to amend the constitution to shorten Chavez's term, which expires in 2006, and to force a national referendum to trigger new elections. Both measures require the support of the National Assembly, where pro-government parties hold a slim majority.
Chavez has said he is open to holding a national referendum in August 2003 when the constitution allows one.
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