<a href=www.sfgate.com>sfgate.comWednesday, April 16, 2003
(04-16) 16:26 PDT CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) --

The U.S. Embassy on Wednesday denied Venezuelan claims that the United States supported last year's short-lived coup against President Hugo Chavez.

Army Gen. Melvin Lopez said Tuesday that Venezuela had proof of U.S. involvement. He said on state television that three U.S. helicopters were in Venezuelan territory during the April 11-14 coup, but didn't elaborate further. "We have the evidence," he said.

"These speculations are unfounded, totally false," U.S. Embassy spokesman John Law told Union Radio on Wednesday.

Law denied any U.S. aircraft was in Venezuelan territory during the coup.

"There was no American plane or helicopter in Venezuelan territory at that date," he said.

Dissident generals rose up against Chavez after 19 Venezuelans died and over 100 were wounded by gunfire as opposition marchers clashed with government supporters in downtown Caracas.

Loyalists in the military helped Chavez regain power on the 14th.

Following his return, Chavez said "worrying details" had emerged suggesting a foreign country might have been involved in his temporary overthrow.

The Bush administration has repeatedly denied that it was involved in the coup.

April 20, 2003 | Issue #29  By Alex Contreras Baspineiro Reporting from Caracas with the Narco News Team April 16, 2002

“We should keep calling for the freedom and construction of one great nation in Latin America.”

• Evo Morales, Bolivian Congressman and Coca-Farming Leader

The indigenous and campesino leaders of the American continent, participating in the first World Gathering in Solidarity with the Bolivarian Revolution, have suggested the construction of a huge, single Latin American nation as an alternative to the unilateral power of the US in the region.

“We should keep calling for the freedom and construction of one great nation in Latin America,” said Bolivian congressman and coca farmers’ leader Evo Morales. “That is the only option we poor people have against this savage and murderous imperialism.” Events such as those going on today in Caracas, he said, should happen regularly in countries that dare to face these problems. In this way, the social and political movements of the continent can unite, and Latin America will no longer be simply “the trash heap of North American imperialism.”

“I don’t see another way, because today we see the arrogance of the Bush family in their invasion and politics of genocide in Iraq. Today we can see an inhuman, savage capitalism that wants to dominate the entire world,” he said.

Evo remembers that seven years ago, he told a journalist that the continent could produce many Cubas. “This worn-out leader, he doesn’t know what he’s saying,” the press responded. With his head held high, Evo said that now two revolutionary governments actually exist in this land called América: Cuba and Venezuela. Brazil and other countries, he continued, are now walking down the same path.

Rafael Alegría, leader of the Via Campesino de Honduras (Route of the Honduran Farmers), said that “if neoliberalism is to be a global system, then the struggles of the Latin American people should be globalized as well.”

A People on the March

Jaime Amorín, leader of the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST in its Portuguese acronym) said, “we Latin Americans are a people on the march.” That march, he said, is towards a new model for Latin America, free of the imposition of genetically engineered food, free of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA; a plan US President Bush is pushing to envelop the hemisphere in a single, US-led neoliberal market), and free of meddling non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

“We know what we want,” said the leader of the landless, “and we know where we want to go. And that’s one great Latin American Nation, free from the Yankees and free from the FTAA.”

These three agrarian leaders were the presenters at a workshop titled “Sovereignty and Food Security” in Caracas’s Teresa Carreño theatre. At this gathering, true democracy is being defended and, also, fomented in our América.

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Apr 17th 2003 | CARACAS From <a href=www.economist.com>The Economist print edition EPA
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A year after Venezuela's failed coup, its president rules in triumph over a shattered and still-divided country

ON APRIL 13th, the broad Avenida Bolívar in the heart of Venezuela's capital was a sea of flags in the national colours of red, yellow and blue, spattered with the scarlet berets of the political movement led by President Hugo Chávez. Behind the president, on his podium raised high above the crowd, was a vast billboard celebrating the “civilian-military unity” that, in official mythology at least, restored Mr Chávez and his populist “Bolivarian revolution” to power after he was briefly ousted in a coup a year ago.

Twelve months on, the balance of power in Venezuela has shifted dramatically. Mr Chávez celebrated the anniversary with an international “solidarity forum” paid for out of public funds. Those attending included Carlos Lage, Cuba's vice-president.

Venezuela The Organisation of American States explains the referendum under discussion in Venezuela.

In contrast, Mr Chávez's opponents failed even to unite in commemoration of last year's events, in which 19 of their supporters were killed. Some of their rallies were cancelled for lack of support. The opposition is battered and leaderless. It is licking its wounds after the failure in January of its second all-out bid to topple the president, this one through a two-month general strike that strangled the oil industry. The government claims that oil production is now back to normal, despite the sacking of nearly half the state oil company's workforce.

But Mr Chávez is presiding over a country dramatically impoverished by 18 months of bitter political conflict. The strike alone cost Venezuela 7.6% of its GDP, according to the National Assembly's economic advisory office. Many private firms have closed down. Since December, in one household in three a family member has lost his job, according to DatosIR, a market-research firm. Datanalisis, another survey firm, predicts a 30% drop in purchasing power this year, in a country where half the population is barely managing to subsist. Crime is soaring.

The government has imposed exchange controls, and is itself close to broke. When Mr Chávez said last month that Venezuela would have to restructure its foreign debt, finance officials quickly contradicted him. But the government faces a fiscal deficit this year of close to 7% of GDP, according to LatinSource, an economic consultancy. It is likely to press the Central Bank to print money, so inflation (31% during last year) is set to continue rising. Vegetable gardens for the poor

The president brands the opposition as fascist coup-mongers. The opposition, for its part, accuses Mr Chávez of being an elected dictator. It is unclear, however, whom the hard-pressed Venezuelans will blame for their plight. Polls showed a slight increase in support for Mr Chávez during and after the strike. But that may not last. Officials fear that hunger could erode support for Mr Chávez among the poor. Beside the Avenida Bolívar, the government is sponsoring vegetable gardens.

The next test for both sides is likely to be a mid-term referendum on Mr Chávez's presidency. Under the constitution, this could be held from August onwards. Government and opposition negotiators said last week that they had reached a “pre-agreement” to hold such a vote, after talks mediated by the Organisation of American States. But there are many obstacles. The government has not even said whether it will sign the “pre-agreement”. Although the opposition in February gathered the 2.4m signatures needed to call a referendum, it will almost certainly have to repeat the exercise. There is no electoral authority in place. The National Electoral Council's term lapsed a year ago. A new council has yet to be appointed, because of wrangling not just between the two sides but within the opposition.

All this means that the government has many ways in which to stall a referendum. If cornered, Mr Chávez could simply precipitate an election. Since he is far more popular than any single opposition leader, he might win this—unless the opposition were to unite. There are no signs of that yet. The opposition is still shell-shocked after the strike. “Everyone is depressed and dispirited,” admits an opposition source. It lacks a clear strategy as well as a leader. But the campaign for the referendum could quickly galvanise it again.

For now, the heat has gone out of Venezuela's political conflict. But neither side is interested in a lasting accommodation. The threat of violence still lurks. As the Chavistas geared up for their celebration, a bomb damaged the building in which the talks between the government and the opposition were held. Similar bombs went off at the Colombian consulate and the Spanish embassy in February. If Venezuela is indeed enjoying a truce, it is an uneasy one which shows no sign of lasting.
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<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 By: Roy S. Carson

General Melvin Lopez Hidalgo has confirmed that the government has evidence that the United States of America was implicit in the April 11 coup d'etat against Venezuela's democratically-elected President, Hugo Chavez Frias.

Speaking on state-owned Venezolana de Television (VTV), National Defense Council Secretary General Lopez Hidalgo says the government of US President George W. Bush was definitely involved in the coup d'etat which saw Dictator-for-a-Day Pedro Carmona Estanga usurp power only to be de-throned two days later after he had dissolved Congress, the Supreme Court and the 1999 Constitution.

According to Venezuelan military intelligence evidence, Washington was continuously in direct contact with the coup leaders throughout the 2-day coup and US liaison officers had worked directly with civilian and military coupsters throughout.  Radar surveillance also shows that a US Navy vessel had been lurking outside Venezuelan territorial waters and that at least one Black Hawk helicopter had been prepared to assist the coupsters to impose Carmona Estanga's US puppet dictatorship.

US Embassy press hack John Law has unconvincingly popped out of his sentry box to refute the allegations claiming that it is NOT the first time that General Melvin Lopez has made the claims ... "they were false then, just as much as they are false now," Law insists ... also denying evidence which shows that US warplanes had made several sorties into Venezuelan sovereign airspace during the two-day drama ... somewhat apologetically, he maintains that Washington had aimed only "to support democratic principles in Venezuela!"

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Our editorial statement reads: VHeadline.com Venezuela is a wholly independent e-publication promoting democracy in its fullest expression and the inalienable  right of all Venezuelans to self-determination and the pursuit of sovereign independence without interference. We seek to shed light on nefarious practices and the corruption which for decades has strangled this South American nation's development and progress. Our declared editorial bias is pro-democracy and pro-Venezuela ... which some may wrongly interpret as anti-American. --  Roy S. Carson, Editor/Publisher  Editor@VHeadline.com

<a href=www.canada.com>Canadian Press Tuesday, April 15, 2003

CARACAS (AP) - A senior Venezuelan army general said the government of the South American country has proof the United States was involved in a short-lived coup against President Hugo Chavez last year.

Army Gen. Melvin Lopez, secretary of Venezuela's National Defence Council, said Tuesday "proof exists" the U.S. administration was involved in the mid-April putsch. He declined to give further details. "We have the evidence," Lopez said during an interview broadcast by Venezuela's state-run television channel.

Lopez said three U.S. military helicopters were on Venezuelan territory during the coup.

A spokesmen from the Pentagon declined comment on the allegation Tuesday night.

Dissident generals rose up against Chavez on April 11, 2002, several hours after 19 Venezuelans died and over 100 were wounded by gunfire as opposition marchers clashed with government supporters in downtown Caracas.

Loyalists in the military returned Chavez to power two days later.

Following his return, Chavez said "worrying details" had emerged suggesting a foreign country might have been involved in his temporary overthrow.

Chavez said a coastal radar installation had tracked a foreign military ship and helicopter operating over Venezuelan waters a day after his ouster. Chavez did not say which country had sent the ship and helicopter but governing party legislators have accused the United States of helping execute the coup.

The U.S. administration has repeatedly denied it was involved in the coup but acknowledged having held conversations with Venezuelan opposition leaders and military officers prior to the rebellion against Chavez.

A month after Chavez returned, the U.S. Embassy denied allegations U.S. military vessels were in Venezuelan territory.

The only U.S. vessels to approach Venezuelan waters during the coup attempt were two U.S. coast guard ships on a joint anti-narcotics mission with The Netherlands, the embassy said in a news release.

The embassy also rejected allegations by governing party legislators that two U.S. military officials who visited the Fuerte Tiuna military base in Caracas the day before Chavez's ouster were helping coup leaders.

The two officers spent two hours at the base April 11 to investigate information about troop movements, the embassy said. They left hours before Chavez was deposed. Two officers returned to the base April 13 for another evaluation of the situation.

Officials in Washington said they told opponents of Chavez they would not support any unconstitutional activity aimed at removing the leftist leader from power.

Chavez, who has irritated Washington by forging ties with Cuban President Fidel Castro, has criticized the United States for being too slow in condemning the coup when it occurred.

In contrast to most Latin American governments, the United States was sluggish to condemn the coup, initially blaming Chavez for his own overthrow. It later joined members of the Organization of American States in condemning the coup as unconstitutional.

Last week, Chavez commemorated the one-year anniversary of his dramatic return to power by inviting anti-globalization activists to a series of forums in Caracas.

Opposition leaders condemned the celebration, saying it was an insult to relatives of the victims who died in the violence that occurred prior to the military uprising.