- CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters)
- Fiery Venezuelan populist Hugo Chavez returned to the presidency in a
conciliatory mood on Sunday after a government set up following Friday's
military coup collapsed in the face of a rebellion by loyalist troops and
massive protests.
-
- The former paratrooper turned politician flew back from
the Venezuelan island of La Orchila, where he had been held under arrest
by military top brass who briefly ousted him as leader of the world's
fourth-largest
oil-exporting nation in favor of mild-mannered businessman Pedro
Carmona.
-
- In the capital Caracas on Sunday, there were serious
outbreaks of looting in the western working class neighborhoods of Catia,
Caricuao and Antimano. National Guard troops were deployed to reinforce
police in these areas. Other parts of Caracas were quiet.
-
- As state television broadcast appeals for calm, police
in Catia fired warning shots in a bid to stop looters who carried off food,
furniture and appliances from gutted, smoking shops and businesses. Several
banks were also broken into.
-
- In the pro-Chavez protests that shook Caracas during
the day and night of Saturday, nine people were killed, state television
reported, but it gave no details.
-
- Returning to a hero's welcome from thousands of cheering
supporters at the Miraflores presidential palace early on Sunday, Chavez
sent a largely conciliatory message to the nation, appealing for calm and
calling on followers who had rioted in support of his return to go
home.
-
- "Let's put our house in order," a clearly happy
Chavez, clutching a crucifix in one hand and a miniature copy of
Venezuela's
1999 constitution in the other, told a news conference as his supporters
chanted "He's back, he's back!"
-
- Chavez, who first came to prominence as leader of a
failed
coup in 1992, six years before he won elections, recognized that both his
government and his foes had made mistakes.
-
- "There isn't going to be any retaliation, no witch
hunt. I haven't any thirst for revenge," Chavez said.
-
- But his triumphant return after two days of confusion,
frantic military pronouncements and street protests by pro-Chavez
supporters
raised many questions about the future in a nation rich in oil but plagued
with poverty and unemployment and riven with deep social divisions.
-
- COUP AND COUNTER-COUP
-
- Venezuelans were digesting the impact of the flip-flop
coup and counter rebellion which saw the firebrand president deposed early
Friday and restored to power 48 hours later. Opinions were mixed,
reflecting
continued social and political tension.
-
- "Thank God he's back. Otherwise, imagine the
consequences,"
Mariano de la Cruz, a 49-year-old cook, told Reuters.
-
- "I'm stunned," said a lawyer and university
professor in his late 50s who declined to give his name. "I fear we
have a dictatorship coming," he added, describing the apparently
conciliatory
Chavez as "a wolf in sheep's clothing."
-
- Most national newspapers were not published on Sunday.
The only one which did appear, the daily Ultimas Noticias, printed the
banner headline, "Chavez Returns!"
-
- State prosecutors were interviewing former interim
president
Carmona, who resigned Saturday night, and several senior military officers
at the Fuerte Tiuna military base, though they were not formally under
arrest, said Chavez's defense minister, Jose Vicente Rangel.
-
- The pro-Chavez protests erupted a day after the armed
forces said the democratically elected Chavez had resigned at their request
after gunmen killed at least 11 unarmed demonstrators participating in
a massive anti-government protest in Caracas Thursday. Chavez denied he
had resigned.
-
- Carmona quit after the protests broke out in favor of
Chavez, and loyalist troops seized control of Miraflores.
-
- Instantly returning to his old talkative form, Chavez
delivered a rambling hour-long monologue that ended shortly before dawn
broke over the troubled capital.
-
- He recalled how he had washed his own socks and underwear
and said the popular protests and army mutinies in his favor marked a
historic
triumph for the Venezuelan people.
-
- "I never for a moment doubted that we would return.
But I never thought we would return so quickly," he said.
-
- Statements by military generals that he had resigned
and asked to be sent abroad were lies, he said.
-
- "They put a piece of paper on the table, saying
'resign,' but I said "I am a president being held prisoner, but I
am not resigning."
-
- Rejoicing in their hero's return, thousands of ecstatic
Chavez supporters, mainly from Caracas' sprawling slums, waved Venezuelan
flags, chanted and pressed against the iron fence around the presidential
palace.
-
- CLASS WAR
-
- But Sunday saw many Venezuelans concerned about the
future.
-
- "There's a confrontation of social classes here.
There's a lot of hatred," said 43-year-old worker Carlos
Ibarra.
-
- He urged both the government and its opponents, which
include Venezuela's economic elite and a large portion of the middle
classes,
to seek consensus. "There has to be an agreement between the two sides
to get this country going."
-
- In one apparent conciliatory gesture, Chavez said he
had accepted the resignation of the board of state oil giant PDVSA. His
nomination of the new board in February had triggered a six-week dispute
in the strategic oil company which badly disrupted the country's oil
output,
refining and exports.
-
- Saturday was a day of chaos in which it was seldom clear
who was running the country. Chavez supporters clashed with police and
stormed television stations that had been fiercely critical of the populist
leader.
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- SPLITS IN MILITARY
-
- Chavez's career had seemed to be finished early on Friday
but the officers who ousted him apparently did not have command of key
active combat units around the country, and one by one these came out in
favor of Chavez, tipping the balance in favor of the counter-rebellion
that restored him.
-
- In his news conference early Sunday, Chavez referred
to the "betrayal" of some members of the armed forces. "They
will have to face history and the law," he said.
-
- Chavez, the 47-year-old son of poor teachers, led troops
in a failed coup attempt in 1992.
-
- After his release from prison, he embarked on a political
career that swept him to power in a landslide election victory in 1998.
Often opting to continue to wear his paratrooper's red beret, Chavez
delighted
the poor but infuriated the rich and the powerful news media with his
rambling,
often folksy speeches that denounced the wealthy elite.
-
- As he amassed more power, his critics said he was leading
Venezuela down the road toward a Cuban-style authoritarian government.
His failure to cut corruption or poverty also eroded much of his support
among the poor. His approval rating had fallen to about 30 percent by the
time the most recent opinion poll was taken.
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