Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Jailed coup leader more popular than president Date: Fri, 13 Nov 92 15:11:15 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \HD Jailed coup leader more popular than president \BY Ben Barber \CR SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES \DT CARACAS, Venezuela CARACAS, Venezuela - President Carlos Andres Perez hardly can be pleased that gaudy, heroic portraits of the man who tried to overthrow him in February are being hawked on the sidewalks near his palace. Opinion polls cite Lt. Col. Hugo Chavez Frias, the jailed officer who led the Feb. 4 coup attempt, as the most popular man in Venezuela. Despite continued threats of unrest - jailed rebel military officers seized the warden of their prison for several hours Oct. 30 - the rate of growth of the gross domestic product stood at an impressive 8.6 percent so far this year and foreign investment was high. Diplomats say that, while people like to talk about a coup, they don't really want to see a military takeover. But there is impatience with corruption in government and the courts and fear ignited by an increasing crime rate in which there are 20 to 30 killings each weekend. Further, living standards have dropped along with the value of the 2 million barrels of oil that are exported daily. "People are exhausted with, . . . fed up with corruption and they want punishment," Attorney General Ramon Escovar Salom said in an interview. "I can accuse the former president and the labor federation president of corruption. But if the courts don't decide to act . . . "The main responsibility is on the political parties - their excessive influence. They appoint the presidents of universities, directors of hospitals and labor unions. All are controlled. We are the last Stalinists. "This is an explosive situation. There is a real danger of a social uprising." When two drunk Guajiro Indians were shot dead by security guards as they sped into the president's convoy on Columbus Day, many feared it was another attempt to kill Mr. Perez. On a recent visit to the hot, flat town of Paraguaipoa on the Colombian border, local Indian leaders and National Guard troops confirmed the government account that it was two drunks and not an assassination squad. But the news was enough to spark a hemorrhage of $900 million out of the country the following week, a banker said. Tension also remained high after a nationalist terror squad tried to kill union leader Antonio Rios Sept. 23. He had been accused of corruption and had just been released by the courts. The Boliviariano Forces for Liberation of the Venezuelan People issued a statement that day warning they would kill corrupt officials and the judges who failed to prosecute them. While the terror group seems small and unlikely to topple the 30-year-old democratic government, crowds of people in the street generally approved of the shooting, much as they applauded the Feb. 4 coup attempt. In fact, although military pay has been increased and senior officers support the government, lower and middle ranks are often drawn to ultraleft, ultraright and nationalist sentiments, said Freddy Vivas Gallardo, director of the School of Politics and Administration at the University of Central Venezuela. "The army is divided and it could lead to a Chile-style coup," he said. "The army has always been the determinant factor here. We used to think that after 30 years of democracy it made the army democratic internally. Feb. 4 proves it's not true." According to retired Gen. Alberto A. Muller Rojas, the coup had basically succeeded and only negotiation by the defense minister persuaded Col. Chavez to capitulate. "In another three hours, the civil population would have supported it," he said in an interview. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM