RHC Venez Coup News Roundup-13 Apr 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Following are items on the Venezuelan coup from a delayed RHC Weekend News report... Radio Havana Cuba - Weekend News Update - 13/14 April 2002 . *CUBA EXPRESSES CONCERN FOR CHAVEZ; VENEZUELANS TAKE TO THE STREETS *CUBA SAYS US INSTIGATED VENEZUELA COUP, DENOUNCES ILLEGITIMATE JUNTA *VENEZUELAN EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT REFUSES TO RESIGN *INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION OF COUP D'ÉTAT IN VENEZUELA . *CUBA EXPRESSES CONCERN FOR CHAVEZ; VENEZUELANS TAKE TO THE STREETS Havana, April 13 (RHC)--The situation in Venezuela remained tense today as the country and the region reeled from the forced removal of President Hugo Chavez, and coup organizers gradually lost control of Caracas, the capital. At the same time, concern increased regarding the fate of imprisoned President Hugo Chavez, whose latest whereabouts was said to be the island of La Orchila, north of Caracas. Starting with a massive media campaign against the government, moving to a so-called general strike and provoking a massive condemnation of deliberately perpetrated violence is a classic coup strategy, say observers. It worked in Chile and it worked this week in Venezuela. The so-called strike, say critics around the world such as the International Action Center, was really an action by the wealthy owners of the factories, aided by the corporate media and a corrupt sector of the trade union movement representing only the most privileged workers in the oil industry. Thousands of Chavez supporters took to the streets Saturday, and managed to get control of Miraflores Palace, the President's residence, from where coup plotter and de facto ruler Pedro Carmona barely managed to escape. Carmona is said to have taken refuge at Fuerte Tiuna. Information from Caracas Saturday evening says the mob of individuals that since Friday had been harassing the Cuban Embassy, destroying embassy cars and threatening to break in, have also fled, as pro-Chavez demonstrations increase. The whereabouts and safety of President Chavez continued Saturday to generate concern. Chavez was moved to the Tiuna Fortress outside Caracas yesterday for fear of demonstrations that are taking place in his favor. However, after crowds gathered in his support outside the military installation, Chavez' daughter reports that her father was seen being loaded into a helicopter that left the base which was later confirmed as the island of La Orchila, raising fears of his assassination. The Italian news agency ANSA is reporting that some sectors of the Venezuelan military - notably the Aragua Paratroop Regiment - do not support the new self-imposed administration headed by corporate businessman, Pedro Carmona and object to his suspension of the 1999 Constitution. Critics say that the intentions of Carmona could not be clearer in his first acts: the suspension of the Constitution - considered to be one of the most progressive in the world, the suspension of 48 laws that increased the State's role in the economy, the dissolution of Congress, the Supreme Court, the offices of the Attorney General and others that could interfere with his agenda. In a statement by General Julio García Montoyo, the Permanent Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Venezuela, he said that the de facto junta was not recognized and demanded the release of Venezuela's constitutional president. He also asked that his country's Constitution be respected so that the Vice-President could take over and elections be held after one month as stipulated by the Constitution, allowing people to decide by referendum if they really want a change of government. The general called on everyone to stay at home to avoid further violence. Eyewitness accounts of the events leading to the forcible removal of President Chavez have revealed that most of the dead in Thursday's demonstration were Chavez supporters fired upon from rooftop positions or by anti-Chavez police within the ranks of the protesters. The 13 deaths were the excuse needed for the coup plotters to put their plan into action. *CUBA SAYS US INSTIGATED VENEZUELA COUP, DENOUNCES ILLEGITIMATE JUNTA Havana, April 13 (RHC)--Cuba reiterated Saturday its denunciation of the situation created in Venezuela with the forced removal from power of President Hugo Chavez. Addressing a mass rally at Guira de Melena, west of Havana, Cuba's ambassador to the United Nations criticized the United States for its complicity with the coup plotters. Bruno Rodríguez described the junta presently in control in Venezuela as selling-out to the United States. He said that Washington had been openly behind the coup against Chavez. The Cuban UN representative also criticized the position of countries of the Rio Group, which while condemning the disruption of constitutional order in Venezuela, failed to demand that that nation's constitutional authorities and president be re-instated. He said those countries that speak of the need to hold new elections in Venezuela forget that legitimate elections were held there not long ago, and that no one should be allowed to annul the results of those elections. Cuban UN Ambassador Bruno Rodríguez also warned about the possibility of President Hugo Chavez being murdered. He said Cuba had had information from reliable sources that indicated that the coup leaders were considering the assassination of Chavez as the only way of consolidating their illegal taking of power. *VENEZUELAN EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT REFUSES TO RESIGN Caracas, April 13 (RHC)--The executive vice president of the Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez government, will not step down. As executive vice president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, stated Diosdado Cabello, I publicly say that I have not and will not resign from the job to which I was designated. Writing from an undisclosed location, the vice president said that the only government he recognized was that of President Hugo Chavez and that he rejected the coup d'etat mounted against him. On Friday, local television ran images of Cabello's wife and small children being beaten by an anti-Chavez mob. He warned that given his condition as vice president of a highly popular, constitutionally elected president, he would protest to the corresponding international institutions the legitimacy of the de facto government installed in his country. The Venezuelan Vice President discarded claims that the Chavez government had fired on the crowd on Thursday in Caracas which left 15 dead and some 300 wounded, saying, as many others believe, that the incidents were provoked as part of a plan to topple the president. *INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION OF COUP D'ÉTAT IN VENEZUELA Havana, April 13 (RHC)--Latin American and other nations have condemned Friday's coup d'état in Venezuela. The president of Argentina, Eduardo Duhalde, said today that the initial decisions taken by the coup leaders have all the marks of a "typical dictatorship" and he termed the de facto government "illegitimate." In statements made to Argentinean radio from Costa Rica, where 19 regional nations are gathered at a Rio Group meeting, Duhalde lamented that "coup d'états have returned to Latin America overthrowing popularly elected governments." He noted that the intentions of the coup leaders are obviously not democratic. The Argentinean president said that the Organization of American States will take up the topic in a special meeting next week and he urged that the authors of the coup in Venezuela be excluded from the regional organization. The government of Paraguay issued a similar statement. Nicaragua has also condemned the breakdown of the constitutional order with the forced removal of Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez. Nicaraguan Vice President Jose Rizo, also speaking from Costa Rica, said he regretted that the leader had been forced out of office and he reiterated that members of the Rio Group have called for a prompt reestablishment of democracy in Venezuela. Politicians and the press in the Dominican Republic are terming the events in Venezuela a coup d'état. The newspaper Hoy said in an editorial that it should be understood that the arrest of president Hugo Chavez constitutes a civil-military coup d'état. Other journalists maintained that the coup was supported by forces both internally and abroad. In Russia, the newspaper Izvestia, reported that the United States was behind the coup d'état in Venezuela and noted that the majority of Latin American experts that the newspaper consulted, hold the same belief. According to the Russian newspaper, the masterminds behind the military coup are to be found in the United States, and it noted that President Hugo Chavez had antagonized them because he was independent in his relations and outspoken about his opinions about that country. Izvestia says that in his nearly three years in office, the Venezuelan leader never gave in to Washington, made anti-imperialist statements and was an open friend of Cuban president, Fidel Castro. Meanwhile Cuba has refused to recognize the de facto government in Venezuela and has expressed concern for President Chavez's safety. Chavez's Defense Minister, Jose Vicente Rangel stressed that President Chavez did not resign, nor did he ask for asylum in Chile. In a telephone conversation with the Venezuelan daily, El Nacional, Rangel that there had been a military action, which obviously is unconstitutional. [For the rest of the RHC Weekend report in English, visit (c) 2002 Radio Habana Cuba, NY Transfer News. 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