Chavez Raises Idea Of U.S. Role in Coup
Interview Suggests Rocky Road Ahead

By Scott Wilson
Washington Post Foreign Service

Sunday, May 5, 2002; Page A20

CARACAS, Venezuela, May 4 -- President Hugo Chavez, who is settling back into governing this oil-rich but socially divided country, raised questions in an interview about a possible U.S. role in a coup last month that he says was an attempt on his life.

His return to the presidential palace three weeks ago has energized his mostly poor supporters, frightened the country's mostly wealthy opposition and left much of Latin America relieved by the resilience of democracy in a part of the world not known for that trait.

Yet the response from the Bush administration, which stood nearly alone in blaming Chavez for provoking his own removal on April 12, has been chilly. There have been no conciliatory phone calls from Washington, leaving a friendly congressional delegation to serve as an intermediary between an angry Chavez and a State Department that has never shown much tolerance for his leftist leanings or his opposition to a number of U.S. policies.

Chavez has begun his own investigation into the four days that saw him toppled, then returned to power, in a spate of political violence that left more than 60 people dead. In an interview late Friday, Chavez said "worrying details" have emerged that point to a foreign hand behind his temporary ouster -- perhaps, he suggested, one guided by the United States.

snip-

Read Complete Article Here