<a href=www2.ocregister.com>Orange County register Saturday, April 12, 2003 From Register news services

He won't work in New York but did not resign. Diplomatic mission stays open.

UNITED NATIONS – Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Mohammed Al-Douri, said he was leaving the world body because he could no longer work in the United States while it was "destroying, ravaging and killing" his countrymen.

Al-Douri, the first Iraqi official to concede the defeat of President Saddam Hussein's government, planned to leave Friday for Paris, then Damascus, Syria, and eventually to Iraq, Arab diplomats said.

"I am leaving because I don't think I can work in a country that is invading Iraq, destroying, killing and demolishing whatever it wants," Al-Douri told Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television Friday.

With tears in his eyes, he added: "It is a country that occupies Iraq from the north to the south, from the east to the west. I don't think this occupying country will allow me enough freedom to work at the United Nations."

Arab diplomats said Al-Douri is not resigning and Iraq's U.N. mission will remain open. The third-ranking diplomat, Said Shihab Ahmad, will become the charge d'affaires, the diplomats said.

Despite three years of publicly defending Saddam's government, Al-Douri said he hopes Iraq is on the path to democracy "without any obstructions and restrictions."

"I would like to find our country free as America has promised," said Al-Douri, a Baghdad University law professor for 30 years and a diplomat for four.

Asked if he feared anything from U.S. authorities, he said: "Not at all. They've always treated me with dignity."

Confusion, denial and paranoia reigned in Iraqi consulates worldwide as diplomats awaited word of their uncertain future. They burned boxes of papers, shredded documents or watched television for any word of home or their new boss.

In Egypt, Iraqi Ambassador Mohsen Khalil approached at least two other embassies seeking asylum, officials said on condition of anonymity.

Muaead Hussain, the Iraqi charge d'affaires in Berlin, spoke through the locked iron gate of his embassy.

"I haven't had contact with Baghdad for two or three weeks," Hussain said. "I have no idea what's going on there."

Hussain insisted he still represents Saddam Hussein's government. Asked whether he might switch allegiance, he said: "Why not? I am serving my country."

In Tokyo, Iraqi diplomats hauled garbage bags stuffed with shredded documents from the embassy. Neighbors said the amount of trash was three times the usual level.

After seeing Saddam's statue tumbling in Baghdad on TV, Iraqi diplomats in Brazil carried box after box of papers outside and set them on fire, according to police.

An embassy official denied it. "It's all lies," Abdu Saif said. "We are only burning debris and recently cut tree branches."

Amid scenes of U.S. troops taking control of Baghdad, Iraq's ambassador in Venezuela, Taha Al-Abassi predicted continued resistance.

"The war does not end, resistance will continue ... I think it will be a long marathon war," he said.

In Vietnam, Ambassador Salah al-Mukhtar took up his post only three weeks ago and immediately warned that if he ran into U.S., British or Australian envoys, he would slap their faces. On Thursday, he said, "I will never shake hands with assassins - definitely. This is our homeland destroyed by British and Americans."

But First Secretary Talal Waleed at the embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, called Saddam's regime "the former government."

Venezuela - A Year Later Saturday, 12 April 2003, 9:26 pm Press Release: Scoop-Council on Hemispheric Affairs

Council on Hemispheric Affairs 1730 M Street NW, Suite 1010, Washington, D.C. 20036 11 April 2003

Some progress towards reconciliation

A year ago, Venezuela's democracy narrowly survived a major test as rightist sectors of the middle-class-led opposition joined with several ranking military officers to briefly overthrow President Chavez, taking advantage of an ongoing popular protest that was peacefully calling upon him to step down.

Even prior to last April's failed coup, Venezuela's opposition had a list of both valid grievances and skeptical critiques on Chavez's commitment to democracy. These included a concern over a set of government decrees issued by Chavez in November 2001, which his opponents insist undermined local authorities as well as the national assembly's jurisdiction over projects both small and large. These also allowed the president to appoint his political allies to senior posts at the national oil company, PDVSA, which could compromise that venerable institution's belief in a practicing meritocracy in its hiring practices.

The Ouster

At the time of the attempted coup, Chavez's narrow survival was mainly due to his close ties to loyalist factions of the military. Business-federation head Pedro Carmona, who comedically had himself sworn in as the country's new president, was unable to secure support from key seniorofficers and enlisted personnel at the air-force base at Maracay and at other garrison sites in the interior, which declared that they would not recognize the golpista's rump government. At that point, Chavez's supporters began marching downtown in defense of their revolution.

But ultimately, it was Venezuelans' residual high regard for non-violent solutions that allowed Chavez to return. Broad participation in the repeated protest marches that made up the opposition's core strategy preceding the coup indicated that while Chavez's rule had lost much of its popular support, Carmona did not have sufficient elite backing or support of the poor to neutralize pro-Chavez generals in the country's interior. This was the case even though Chavez was repeatedly being assailed by the media, particularly, the country's four major television stations, which specialized in anti-Chavez advocacy rather than providing a dispassionate, balanced assessment of a deteriorating political situation.

Since last April, the opposition has continued to plot to bring down Chavez by any means, most notably by the now ended two-month general strike that paralyzed the government's main source of income, the national oil industry. Venezuela's private media once again joined the effort by churning out grossly one-sided, anti-Chavez coverage, which included dozens of alternately clever and vicious articles aimed at discrediting him and demanding that the president step down.

The Confrontation

Once again, the opposition was inspired by a valid list of complaints against Chavez's Bolivarian revolution's traditional belief in plebiscitary democracy and its unique interpretation of the rule of law. In recent months, anti-Chavez forces have mobilized around such issues as the now reversed inflammatory militarization of the Caracas metropolitan police, edicts that could curb freedom of speech and the government's allegedly lax stance against Colombian rebels constructing staging sites on Venezuelan territory.

One very important development in recent months has been the emergence of a small bipartisan initiative, mainly located in the national legislature, aimed at reconciling the vast chasm separating the government and the non-government positions. Named the Boston Group (where they will be meeting next month), the initiative was launched with the help of three U.S. members of Congress who visited Venezuela last September. Composed of ten Venezuelan National Assembly members from each side, the group aims at modernizing Venezuela's parliamentary procedures and increasing the national assembly's role in the public policy process. With a constructive agenda in mind, Boston Group members have organized forums where opposition and government representatives can express their views on public policy, rather than blaming the other as the source of their nation's problems. At a meeting in Washington on April 7, group members Calixto Ortega and Pedro Diaz Blum described the recall referendum as the only solution in sight to break the stagnated political climate by means of an electoral solution.

The opposition has provided a distinct service to the nation in reminding the government that democratic legitimacy goes much further than merely respecting electoral results. But, with the decline in the effectiveness of the now disbanded general strike, even the most anti-government sector must realize that lasting changes in Venezuelan society should at least begin within an electoral solution and not by destroying thenational economy.

Presently, the anti-Chavez movement has been somewhat hobbled by an abiding hatred for Chavez, which appears to be its only unifying credo. As a result, schisms are breaking out as various likely opposition presidential candidates jockey for the possible race, if a proposed referendum on Chavez's rule in August actually materializes.

Possible Reconciliation

The tough task of establishing a referendum date on Chavez's recall still lies ahead. Yet it should be remembered: none of the admittedly frustrating negotiations on mending Venezuela's democratic procedures would have occurred if the Bush administration had been successful in backing Carmona's White House-approved script by lending support to the ouster of a constitutionally-elected president, which would have all but guaranteed bloody class-strife.

In that scenario, Venezuela's democracy would have been most likely engulfed in political violence, akin to that being witnessed in neighboring Colombia. While no one can deny that Venezuela's democracy still requires a defibrillator, the slow rehabilitation of the country's democratic institutions and the population's almost visceral respect for non-violent solutions to political differences, has at least given it an opportunity to confirm its heritage and move on. This is a lesson that hopefully Washington will also take to heart.

This analysis was prepared by Larry Birns, Director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, and Manuel Rueda, a Research Associate. Issued April 11, 2003.

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, founded in 1975, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and information organization. It has been described on the Senate floor as being "one of the nation's most respected bodies of scholars and policy makers." For more information, please see our web page at www.coha.org; or contact our Washington offices by phone (202) 216-9261, fax (202) 223-6035, or email coha@coha.org.

202 216 9261 202 223 6035 coha@coha.org www.coha.org Council on Hemispheric Affairs Monitoring Political, Economic and Diplomatic Issues Affecting the Western Hemisphere Memorandum to the Press 03.14

Boston.com-Associated Press By Jorge Rueda, Associated Press, 4/12/2003

CARACAS -- A year after soldiers temporarily ousted President Hugo Chavez, Venezuelans find themselves steeped in economic crisis, bitterly divided, and with Chavez's hold on power stronger than ever.

''I know it's a contradiction, but the coup, and Chavez's return -- even if things are worse now -- renewed my faith that we can develop our democracy,'' said Jesus Mendoza, a 45-year-old businessman who says he is opposed to Chavez.

Most Latin American governments condemned the April 12-14, 2002, ouster of Chavez. The leftist former army paratrooper led a failed 1992 coup, was jailed for two years, and then was elected president in 1998 on a platform that criticized Venezuela's corrupt democratic system.

Chavez was arrested in the early hours of April 12 -- military commanders said he resigned -- after 19 people died the day before during an opposition march to the presidential palace. Videotape shows gunmen firing recklessly into the crowd. The march occurred after opposition labor and business leaders called a general strike to denounce what they called Chavez's Cuba-style economic policies. Both pro- and anti-Chavez supporters died that day. But under a Venezuelan justice system subject both to Chavez's influence and its own institutional corruption, no one has been convicted in the slayings.

An interim government led by Pedro Carmona, head of Venezuela's leading business chamber, dissolved Congress, the courts, and the constitution -- angering hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, who took to the streets to demand Chavez's return.

A loyalist army general sent his troops to a Caribbean island where Chavez was being held and brought him back to the presidential palace in triumph.

Once restored, a seemingly chastened Chavez called for reconciliation among Venezuelans. Soon, however, he saw conspiracies everywhere and moved to crush them. He purged the military of dissidents. He has repeatedly assailed the private sector, opposition political parties, the news media, labor unions, and the Catholic Church, repeatedly calling them ''terrorists.'' In November, his government agreed to talks with the opposition, mediated by the Organization of American States. In principle, the two sides have agreed that a popular referendum on Chavez's presidency may be held halfway into his current term, which ends in 2007. But no formal pacts have been reached, and no single opposition candidate has emerged.

In December and January, Chavez weathered a devastating two-month general strike, one called by business and labor to demand that he resign. The strike failed, though it briefly crippled Venezuela's crucial oil industry and left the economy in ruins.

Many analysts and citizens wearily cite Venezuela's paradox: a state of permanent conflict under Chavez that has rendered the nation virtually ungovernable and a lack of immediate alternatives to his populist, authoritarian tendencies.

<a href=www.sun-sentinel.com>South Florida Sun Sentinel By Sandra Hernandez STAFF WRITER Posted April 12 2003

MIAMI · Exactly one year after President Hugo Chávez was briefly ousted from power in a bizarre and violent coup attempt, Venezuelans recalled the day in an array of ways from protests to quiet moments -- a reflection of the deep divisions that split the South American nation.

In Miami, dozens of protestors carried flags and blew whistles at a candlelight vigil to remember the dead and call for the removal of Chávez.

"I'm here tonight to remember those who lost their lives," said Miriam Salas, who was in the capital city of Caracas on April 11 when the violence broke out. "I never imagined that so many people would die that day. I just remember walking, and then running for cover. I don't think anyone who marched that day could have imagined what was to come."

Just a few miles away in Coral Gables, however, a supporter of Chávez chose to remember the day quietly.

"I called some friends just to see how things are back there," said Carlos Matamoros, a local radio host who supports the charismatic but controversial leader. "I don't plan on making a celebration of this day. I think you remember this tragic day quietly and hope it never repeats itself."

Last April 11, Caracas was turned into a battleground after a protest march calling for the removal of Chávez turned deadly. Shots rang out as the throng of marchers approached the presidential office, leaving 19 people dead and scores injured. Military leaders who blamed the president for the violence briefly forced Chávez out. A temporary government was installed, but it collapsed after leaders announced they were dissolving the constitution and most of the government institutions.

Less than 48 hours later, troops and supporters loyal to the president restored him to office.

Chávez appeared on television the following day and promised to bring unity and restore order in the country.

But a year later, Venezuela remains one of the most polarized places in the region with an ongoing battle between Chávez's opponents who vow to remove him from office and his supporters who say they will back him.

"The country is worse off today than a year ago," says Alfredo Keller, a Venezuelan analyst and pollster. "There is very high unemployment, crime is a real problem and the economy is on the verge of collapsing."

Unemployment is near 20 percent, murders are at an all-time high and hundreds of small businesses have shut down while larger companies fled months ago.

Venezuela has the largest oil reserves outside the Middle East and is a key provider of fuel to the United States.

Moreover, the country's opposition movement that spurred the coup now appears to be confused. The leaders of a two-month-long strike that paralyzed the country and shut down its oil production are scattered.

Labor leader Carlos Ortega has sought political asylum in Costa Rica. And the two remaining leaders -- Carlos Fernandez, who heads the country's largest business chamber, along with Juan Fernandez -- were both in South Florida this weekend.

"The danger right now in Venezuela is the more time that goes on, the more radicalized the both sides become," Fernandez said during an interview in the Weston home of a friend.

But the 53-year-old businessman insists the opposition will remain intact to push for an August referendum that would open the door for removing Chávez.

"I'm not sure that there will be a referendum, but we will push for that," he said.

Until now, Chávez had not committed to calling for a referendum, but on Friday, the government and members of the opposition agreed to hold a vote after Aug. 19.

The agreement could lead to a peaceful solution of an otherwise untenable crisis, according to analysts.

"We are headed toward a crisis when August comes, unless there is some vote," said Keller, the analyst. "I imagine the opposition will do everything possible to get it done and the government will try and stall it and blame the opposition. If that happened, you will have a very serious crisis."

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Bush Subconsciously Sizes Up Spain For Invasion by onion Saturday April 12, 2003 at 12:26 AM

WASHINGTON, DC--During a White House meeting with visiting Spanish prime minister and fellow allied-forces leader Jose Maria Aznar, President Bush subconsciously sized up Spain for invasion Monday.

WASHINGTON, DC—During a White House meeting with visiting Spanish prime minister and fellow allied-forces leader Jose Maria Aznar, President Bush subconsciously sized up Spain for invasion Monday.

"Aznar was pledging his ongoing support for the Iraqi war effort when, out of nowhere, this odd look came across George's face," National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said. "He sat quiet for a moment, like he was going to say something, but then he just shook his head as if to chase the thought away."

At the meeting, Aznar ruled out sending Spanish combat troops to Iraq but pledged to provide a hospital vessel, a mine-clearing unit, a team of chemical-detection experts, and several oil tankers.

"And you have no nuclear weapons, right?" Bush asked Aznar. "And no chemical or biological weapons or anything like that? Just curious."

Aznar also promised that if Iraq attacks neighboring Turkey, he would contribute six F-18 warplanes, a Hercules C-130 refueling plane, and a search-and-rescue helicopter.

"The Hercules C-130," said Bush, staring off into the distance. "Those are pretty old. Hmm."

As the conversation turned toward the siege of Baghdad, Bush interrupted and returned to the subject of Spain's military strength—or lack thereof.

"So, all in all, your country has 105,000 standing troops total?" Bush said. "That's it?"

Aznar later told Bush that Spain's King Juan Carlos sent his greetings, once again piquing the president's interest.

"It seems a bit outdated to have a king," Bush said. "Are your people happy with him? Do you think your people would rather rule themselves, like in a democracy?"

Aznar explained that Spain is a constitutional monarchy.

"The prime minister must be approved by our legislature," Aznar told Bush. "You see, each of our autonomous regions has its own regional government and exercises legislative and executive authority in the manner outlined by the national constitution."

Bush then asked about Spain's longstanding troubles with separatist groups.

"That situation with the Catalans and the Basques," Bush said. "How serious is that?"

When Aznar inquired as to why Bush was asking, the president said he "was just wondering, for no reason."

"There was something strange about his questions, although I cannot put my finger on it," Aznar said. "And he seemed very excited about the anti-government protests in Madrid a few days ago, until I told him they were protesting our involvement in the Iraq war."

Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was in attendance, also noticed some unusual behavior on the part of Bush.

"During the meeting, the president was absentmindedly doodling on some documents, one of which had a map of Europe on it," Powell said. "I noticed he drew a series of arrows originating on the Canary Islands and moving in toward Madrid."

Powell recalled that during last month's summit in the Azores, Bush seemed oddly fixated on Spain.

"[Bush] said Spain didn't seem to be all that prosperous for a nation whose main export is oil," Powell said. "I told him Spain doesn't produce a lot of oil. Finally, we figured he must've been thinking of olive oil, and we both had a big laugh about it."

Powell said that upon returning home from the Azores summit, Bush continued to insist that "there is some big oil-producing nation that speaks Spanish."

"I told him he must be thinking of Venezuela," Powell said. "They are very rich in oil. So now he wants a full report on Venezuela by Monday. Ever since this war with Iraq, he's been a real geography buff."

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