U.S. pulls retired Venezuelan general's visa

The Miami Herald Posted on Wed, Jun. 11, 2003 BY TIM JOHNSON tjohnson@herald.com

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has yanked the U.S. visa of a retired Venezuelan army general, accusing him of scheming to overthrow President Hugo Chávez and citing U.S. antiterrorism legislation.

The U.S. action affects retired Gen. Enrique Medina Gómez, who served as military attaché at the Venezuelan embassy in Washington until his dismissal from the post following a failed military coup against Chávez in April 2002.

Chávez alleged that Medina had secretly supported the coup, but he was never officially accused.

Medina denied the charge but late last year led a group of some 100 active-duty and retired military officers who set up camp in a Caracas square to demand Chávez's ouster. The active-duty officers were later cashiered.

The camp in the centrally located Plaza Altamira remains a center of activity for civilians and retired military officers who want Chávez, a leftist populist whose rule has seen once-stable Venezuela plunge into a nearly continuous crisis, to leave office.

''A significant body of evidence indicated that [Medina Gómez] was coup plotting,'' a senior U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The visa revocation, which occurred last month but became public Tuesday, appeared aimed at signaling the opposition to Chávez that it should focus on legal means to end his mandate, rather than violent ones.

The official said the State Department acted using a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that was altered following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to block entry of foreigners who ``endorse or espouse terrorist activity, or persuade others to support terrorist activity or a terrorist organization.''

U.S. officials did not reveal what evidence they have of Medina Gómez's alleged coupplotting, saying only that it did not appear to present a current threat to the Chávez government.

The Bush administration clearly dislikes Chávez, who maintains a close friendship with Cuban President Fidel Castro, frequently criticizes free-market policies that Washington espouses and has angered much of Venezuela's middle and upper classes.

Following the brief coup against Chávez last year, the Bush administration has tried to lower the profile of its involvement in Venezuela's political crisis, stung by perceptions that they cheered on the coup.

Washington previously yanked U.S. visas of Venezuelan Navy Vice Adm. Carlos Molina, who participated in the four-day coup, and businessman Pedro Carmona, appointed by the military to succeed Chávez. Carmona now lives in Colombia and Molina is believed to be in Europe.

Chávez and his opposition reached an agreement in May, brokered by the Organization of American States, to hold a binding referendum on his rule sometime after Aug. 19, which is halfway through his current term.