"Some people believe I am a threat to the United States, to democracy. I've told them time and time again that this is not true," Chavez told CBS TV.

WASHINGTON, May 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The U.S. government should explain why it failed to condemn the brief coup in Venezuela last month that ousted a democratically elected government, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said in an interview broadcast late Sunday, May 12.

"Some people believe I am a threat to the United States, to democracy. I've told them time and time again that this is not true," Chavez told CBS television, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"I believe that they really owe an explanation ... to the people of the United States and also to us," he added.

Chavez, speaking in Spanish through a translator, said he does not believe Washington was involved in the coup, but his government was investigating reports of U.S. complicity.

"It really needs to be extremely strong evidence" before he would believe Washington was involved, Chavez said.

He told BBC television Saturday, May 11, that he had proof U.S. military officers contacted the coup plotters, but said it was unclear whether they aided or opposed the coup.

"I have proof and I have it in writing. I have the hour they entered and the hour in which two military officers of the United States left the seat of the coup participants," Chavez told the BBC, referring to military attaches assigned to the U.S. embassy in Caracas.

Chavez did not identify the officers, but said he knew who they were and whom they spoke with, while admitting it was unclear whether they aided the coup or opposed it.

Sources close to an investigation of the coup previously identified the officers as army Colonel Ronald MacCammon and Lieutenant Colonel James Rodgers.

Washington has consistently denied any involvement in the April 12 coup, in which Chavez was ousted following a three-day general strike that included street marches and protesters killed by unknown rooftop sharpshooters.

Chavez rejected the coup leaders' claim he had resigned, which U.S. officials quickly accepted. "No, absolutely not. Never. Never. Never," he told CBS.

The State Department refused comment on Chavez's remarks, AFP said. 

Business leader Pedro Carmona took over as interim president with military backing. But after further unrest, and a switch in allegiance in the military -- apparently angered at the interim government's dissolving of the country's congress and supreme court -- Chavez was back in power a mere 48 hours later. Two government commissions are investigating events surrounding the coup.

Chavez has repeatedly irked Washington since being first elected as Venezuela's president in 1998 after a campaign in which he cultivated an anti-American image while at the same time keeping the United States as his nation's main client.

Relations further deteriorated when Chavez visited Washington's arch enemies, Libya and Iraq.

He told CBS he "honestly didn't know" the visits would anger the United States but would do it again if it was in Venezuela's best interest.

In October, he incurred U.S. President George W. Bush's wrath when he accused the United States of killing children and innocent people in its so-called war on terrorism in Afghanistan, in the wake of the September 11 attacks on U.S. soil.

Chavez also has forged a friendship with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Washington's arch-enemy in the Americas.

And normally delicate relations with Colombia took a turn for the worse on reports that Chavez allegedly had secret dealings with Bogota's most dangerous guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Chavez told CBS he likes the United States. "I enjoy Whitman's poems, and 'New York, New York,' the song. I love baseball, Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, hot dogs ... freedom," he said.

Meanwhile, nearly 100, 000 Venezuelans marched through the capital Caracas to protest against President Chavez, BBC’s online news service reported.

The rally was in memory of 17 people killed in a big anti-government march before the unsuccessful coup.

The authorities have promised an impartial investigation into the deaths, but critics of Chavez claim it is being led by a state prosecutor loyal to him.

In a different part of the city, pro-Chavez groups marched on the prosecutor's office to demand a quick investigation into who started the violence.

The anti-Chavez demonstrators wore black to mark their disappointment at his return to power and chanted slogans such as "We are here and we're not afraid".

Banners carried messages saying "Chavez murderer" and "Forgetting is forbidden".

The marchers included students, labor activists and intellectuals convinced that the Chavez government is leading the country to disaster, according to AFP.

"We urgently need a new president," said 35-year-old engineer Jesus Rivero, who carried a placard declaring: "This is a peaceful demonstration. Please don't shoot!"

University student Marianella Villegas, 21, said she joined the march to make sure that those who had opened fire on anti-Chavez protesters April 11 would not escape punishment. "The president has to go," she said.

 

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