Two Venezuelan officers seek Uruguay asylum-source

30 Apr 2003 17:11:32 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela, April 30 (alertnet.org-Reuters) - Two Venezuelan army officers have sought diplomatic asylum in Uruguay, the latest in a string of military dissidents to seek refuge abroad a year after President Hugo Chavez survived a brief coup, an opposition source said Wednesday.

Army captains Otto Gebauer and Carlos Jose Blondell, who helped guard Chavez during the April 2002 rebellion, asked for refuge at the Uruguayan embassy in Caracas.

"They are asking for asylum in Uruguay," the source close to the case told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

An official at the embassy would not comment.

Chavez, elected in 1998 on promises to ease poverty, has sought to bring to trial dissident military officers and some opposition leaders on rebellion and treason charges.

The Venezuelan leader has been locked in a bitter political struggle for more than a year with his opponents who accuse him of ruling the world's No. 5 oil exporter like a dictator.

More than 100 dissidents army officers, some who participated directly in the April coup, have staged a campaign of disobedience based in a Caracas square since October 2002.

Peru's Foreign Ministry said last week it had granted refuge to two other army officers. The Dominican Republic is reviewing an asylum request from two army captains who also guarded Chavez while he was held during the April 2002 coup.

The recent spate of applications by military officers came a month after Costa Rica granted asylum to the Venezuelan union chief who spearheaded an opposition strike in December and January to try to force Chavez to resign.

The businessman who briefly replaced Chavez in the coup also fled to the Colombian embassy 2002 along with a navy rear admiral under investigation for his coup role who asked for refuge in El Salvador.