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Chavez Considered Resigning To Avert Bloodbath
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Chavez
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CARACAS,
May 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez considered resigning earlier this month to avert an expected
bloodbath after military leaders turned against him, but reconsidered
when the officers refused to accept his condition, the chief of staff
of Venezuela's armed forces said Saturday, May 4.
General
Lucas Rincon told a legislative committee investigating a recent coup
that Chavez demanded respect for Venezuela's constitution before he
would step down in favor of then-vice president Diosdado Cabello as
military leaders turned against him late on April 11, Agence
France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Rincon
said he warned Chavez of possible violent confrontations between
military factions loyal to the president and Chavez opponents.
"He
responded, 'I don't want a bloodbath, I don't want even a drop of
anyone's blood spilled.'," Rincon said.
Chavez
withdrew his offer to resign after opponents rejected his conditions,
Rincon said, denying there was ever a "power vacuum" as some
had insisted.
Some
military leaders turned against Chavez after a general strike sparked
street fighting that killed 17 at the start of four tumultuous days
for Venezuela. Opponents arrested Chavez, announced his resignation
and installed businessman Pedro Carmona as interim president.
Carmona
was forced out after just two days when military leaders withdrew
their support amid violent pro-Chavez protests and Carmona's
suspension of the National Assembly and other civic institutions.
Chavez
returned to power April 14.
On
Thursday, lawmakers heard from Carmona, who said there was no coup
attempt in Venezuela two weeks ago and argued that a group of military
men had placed him at the head of an interim government to fill a
"power vacuum" created by Chavez.
"I
was called to fill a power vacuum that had occurred and to form a
transitional government," said Carmona, who is currently under
house arrest.
The
legislative probe is one of two commissions looking into events
surrounding the coup.
This
comes after reports succeeding the coup suggested that the United
States had supported the coup in an attempt to consolidate its power
in the region.
In
a Newsweek report, Venezuelan military officers who unsuccessfully
tried to topple President Hugo Chavez, were in contact with the U.S.
embassy in Caracas less than two months before the coup.
The
report cited Bush administration sources as saying that dissident
Venezuelan military officers had informed embassy officials about
planning a coup in late February.
According
to Newsweek, Chavez was widely seen in Washington as a hostile figure
whose erratic leadership threatened U.S. oil supplies as well as
efforts to crack down on guerrilla forces tied to drug trafficking and
terrorism in neighboring Colombia.
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