Venezuela rightists said to block arrrest of general calling for military to resist Chavez

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Venezuela Protesters Foil Arrest of Rebel General
Last Updated: October 09, 2002 08:58 PM ET
By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Protesters beating pots and
pans stopped armed Venezuelan security agents on Wednesday
from detaining a dissident army general who criticized
President Hugo Chavez hours before a planned opposition
march in Caracas, witnesses said.

The incident, in which a crowd of east Caracas residents
took to the streets in defense of Gen. Manuel Rosendo,
stoked tensions in the politically polarized country as it
braced for Thursday's demonstration, called to demand early
elections.

Chavez's government and its opponents accused each other of
planning violent actions six months after a coup by rebel
officers in April that briefly toppled the left-wing
populist president in the world's fifth-largest oil
exporter.

Rosendo, who faces a court martial for his alleged role in
the April 11-14 coup, had earlier criticized Chavez as a
dangerous extremist and appealed to his armed forces
colleagues not to act against Thursday's opposition march.

Shortly after he spoke to reporters in a Caracas hotel, an
armed posse of government security agents tried to arrest
the general in the street in Caracas' Los Palos Grandes
district.

They were thwarted by angry local residents who surrounded
Rosendo, chanting his name, waving national flags and
beating pots and pans in protest. The government agents
withdrew.

In earlier government measures, the armed forces stepped up
security in Caracas, including the deployment of tanks to
protect the presidential palace and strategic military
sites.

The tanks were kept out of sight inside the installations,
but National Guard troops patrolled the streets and an
atmosphere of tense expectation gripped the capital.

Rosendo is one of about 300 anti-Chavez officers who are
under investigation and sidelined from active command duties
for their alleged role in the April coup.

Several of these officers made public statements on
Wednesday urging the rest of the armed forces not to obey
any government orders to repress Thursday's opposition
protest. They also called for a big turnout in the
anti-government march.

FEARS OF VIOLENCE

Six months ago, Rosendo, a former Chavez ally, defied a
direct April 11 order from the president to deploy tanks and
troops against a huge anti-government march.

The April march was broken up by gunfire near the Miraflores
presidential palace. At least 19 people were killed,
triggering a rebellion by several hundred officers, who
deposed Chavez for 48 hours. He was later restored by loyal
troops amid street protests in which more than 60 people
were killed.

Chavez, an outspoken former paratrooper who was elected in
1998, accused his civilian and military foes on Wednesday of
plotting another rebellion against him. He said Thursday's
opposition march was part of that plot.

"They mustn't think that behind the march they're going to
be able to stage a coup. No. The people and the armed forces
are on the alert," Chavez said in a speech to retired
military officers. He charged that "a fascist and
coup-plotting oligarchy" was still trying to overthrow him.

Opponents of the president contend he is leading Venezuela
toward Cuban-style Communism. They said the government's
anti-opposition crackdown was a ploy to try to provoke
violence before or during Thursday's march.

"The government is the one which wants violence," Carlos
Fernandez, president of the anti-Chavez private business
association Fedecamaras, told reporters.

Foes say Chavez would use any violence as an excuse to
introduce emergency powers to push through his self-styled
"revolution," which includes left-leaning economic reforms
and increased state intervention in the oil-rich economy.

"This is a dictatorship disguised as a democracy," said
another anti-Chavez military officer, Gen. Enrique Medina.

Opposition leaders insisted Thursday's march would be
peaceful. Most of them have said they shun violence or a
coup and will try to remove the president by constitutional
means.

But Chavez, who staged his own botched 1992 coup bid six
years before being elected president, has ruled out calling
an early election. Fernandez said the opposition would have
to continue its protests, including a possible nationwide
strike.

The United States, Venezuela's main oil market, and
international organizations have expressed concern the
unrelenting political feuding could erupt into violence.
(Additional reporting by Patrick Markey).


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