Riots in Venezuela as Court Debates Coup Leader's Fate

by Jose Zambrano

The violence erupted in the early-morning hours in the Catia and 23 de Enero neighborhoods, where there is broad popular support for President Hugo Chavez. The shots penetrated an armored police vehicle and injured one of its occupants, reported Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena.

A former ally of Chavez, Pena is today one of his staunchest opponents. The metropolitan police under his control are harshly criticised by pro-Chavez sectors.

Three other people were injured in the disturbances, while there was also exchange of gunfire in other parts of central and eastern Caracas, according to press reports.

The main access points to Catia and 23 de Enero had been blocked since dawn by garbage trucks and other barriers, causing chaos in city traffic.

Many shops closed their doors for fear of possible looting. Privately owned television stations urged the population to remain in their homes, and National Guard troops were deployed around the legislative palace in the city's centre.

There has been commotion in the streets all week outside the Supreme Court of Justice, where judges are deliberating on whether to bring to trial four military officers who on Apr. 12 led a failed coup attempt against Chavez, who they held incommunicado for 48 hours.

According to Venezuela's 1999 Constitution, the Supreme Court must determine whether the case merits starting proceedings against former army chief Efrain Vasquez, air force general Pedro Pereira, vice-admiral Hector Ramirez and rear admiral Daniel Comisso for their role in the April events.

Prosecutor General Isaias Rodriguez, in a hearing July 18, charged the four officers with rebellion and unlawfully detaining Chavez for two days with the threat of using the weapons in their possession.

This week the court rejected a resolution, with a vote of 12 to eight, that stated there was no military rebellion in April, and ordered the drafting of a new resolution.

Although the ruling does not constitute an absolution, nor is it a decision on the essential points of the case, it triggered indignation among Chavez supporters, who demand that the officers be punished.

"Independent of the political culture professed by each individual, if one engages in violent conduct one enters the realm of an anti-democratic attitude that must be rejected by the vast majority of the Venezuelan people," said the president of the National Assembly (congress), Willian Lara, of the ruling Fifth Republic Movement (MVR).

Opposition leaders blame today's shootings on Chavez supporters, who have gone so far as to set up informal checkpoints on the streets surrounding the presidential palace, Miraflores.

But Freddy Bernal, mayor of the Caracas municipality of Libertador and member of MVR, refuted statements blaming pro-Chavez sectors, saying that there are a great number of citizens of different political currents who have been carrying weapons "for many years."

"There are more than 250,000 firearms, including some of high calibre, that have been in the hands of citizens for many years, since before Hugo Chavez was elected president. Every week, some 20 to 30 illegal weapons are seized, but that is obviously not enough," Bernal told a press conference.

The Libertador mayor commented that the Supreme Court decision to put off its decision about whether to try the four officers involved in the coup attempt had "fanned the fires" and now people's tempers are running high.

In the parliamentary debate and hearings about the events of April, several military leaders accused the government of training neighborhood groups, known as "Bolivarian Circles," to confront protests by the opposition, in meetings in which prosecutor Rodriguez and Chavez's ministers reportedly participated.

Meanwhile, opposition political groups and numerous non-governmental organizations, which have continued to stage massive marches in Caracas to demand the president's resignation, have expressed support for the coup-leading officials and are urging further civil disobedience.

"It is up to the court whether there is violence or if peace is maintained. The justices have a time bomb in their hands. Their decisions will determine if the population declares itself in contempt," said lawmaker Iris Varela, member of the ruling MVR.

Venezuela's acute political polarization prompted the Chavez government to ask former U.S. president Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) to serve as mediator, but the opposition insists that the Organization of American States (OAS) should play that role.