Dissident Venezuela general set to face trial

14 May 2003 22:13:51 GMT (Adds general's comments, background)

CARACAS, Venezuela, May 14 (Reuters) - Venezuela's Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for the trial of a dissident general charged with rebellion for taking part in a protest against President Hugo Chavez, his attorney said.

National Guard Gen. Carlos Alfonzo would be the first dissident officer to go on trial following the April 2002 coup that toppled left-winger Chavez for 48 hours and triggered months of political turmoil over his rule.

"It's a political decision bent on sending an innocent man to a prearranged trial," his lawyer Alberto Arteaga said.

Alfonzo, who was sacked as Inspector General of the National Guard for his alleged role in the coup in the world's No. 5 oil exporter, told reporters he did not accept the Supreme Court ruling and would appeal.

"I am innocent of the charges they are trying to pin on me," he told reporters.

The court ruled the attorney general had presented enough evidence for Alfonzo to be tried for rebellion and incitement for participating in an anti-Chavez protest in December 2002.

The general has been under house arrest since security police detained him at the Caracas rally.

Alfonzo had also joined scores of other officers who camped out for months in a Caracas plaza after launching a civil disobedience campaign against the president in October.

"I don't believe in the revolutionary project President Chavez is trying to implant," Alfonzo said Wednesday.

Since last year's coup, former paratrooper Chavez has purged from their posts more than 150 senior officers, including Alfonzo, who were allegedly involved in the short-lived uprising against him.

Chavez's opponents accuse him of trying to introduce Cuba-style communism in Venezuela.

"I am a democratically-minded officer. I am not, have never been, nor ever will be, a coup monger," Alfonzo said.

Last year, radical Chavez supporters rioted in Caracas when four other senior officers were allowed to walk free after the court ruled they could not be tried for rebellion for their alleged leadership of the April coup.

In April six lower-ranking dissident military officers asked for asylum in Peru, Uruguay and the Dominican Republic, saying they feared persecution and death threats.

Chavez, who led a failed uprising himself six years before his 1998 election, has threatened to jail foes who organized a general strike in December and January meant to pressure him out of office. No trial date has been set for Alfonzo. (Additional reporting by Silene Ramirez)