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Chavez resigns under pressure after bloody protest
( 2002-04-12 16:48 ) (7 )

President Hugo Chavez, under pressure by the military to resign, agreed to step down Friday after a massive protest against him that turned violent, leaving 11 dead and dozens wounded.

Armed Forces Chief General Lucas Rincon made the announcement to reporters at 3:15 am (0715 GMT), ending hours of uncertainty and conflicting reports on Chavez resignation.

"The military leadership regret the sad events that took place in this capital yesterday ... and requested that the president of the republic resign from office, which he accepted," Rincon told reporters after announcing Chavez's resignation.

"Finally, I want to call on the glorious Venezuelan people to stay calm and to the army to set an example of civility, rejecting any incitement to violence. Keep faith in your national armed forces," Venezuela's top general said.

Rincon did not say who would succeed the 48-year-old Chavez, who first took office in 1998 and was re-elected in 2000 to a six-year mandate.

The general did not say where Chavez was, but Union Radio later reported that he had left the presidential palace of Miraflores and was heading for Fort Tiuna, under Rincon's command.

Army chief General Efrain Vasquez -- one of the first military leaders to rebel against Chavez after the bloody demonstration -- earlier told reporters that Chavez was negotiating his resignation with two generals Vasquez had sent to his office.

Chavez' resignation was preceded by that of Finance Minister Francisco Uson, who is an army general, and of Deputy Minister for Public Safety Luis Camacho Kairuz, who joined 10 other high-ranking military officers in rebelling against the president.

While presidential spokesman Rafael Vargas denied rumors late Thursday that Chavez had left the country, Colonel Marcos Salas said that Chavez' wife, Marisabel, had taken off from a military base in a plane, adding that the flight had been authorized "on humanitarian grounds."

There were no disruptions at Maiquetia International Airport, where an airport spokeswoman said flight schedules were normal, but that the terminal was under heavy military protection.

Vargas said that police employed by Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena, a Chavez opponent, and those of other municipalities, had "assassinated" the victims of Thursday's street clashes.

The deaths and 95 injuries -- mostly gunshot wounds -- occurred when pro- and anti-Chavez supporters clashed and National Guard troops exchanged fire with municipal police officers on the third day of a general strike, prompting army chief Vasquez to join other officers seeking Chavez's ouster.

"I was loyal to you to the end, I served you until this afternoon, but I will not tolerate killings as of today," Vasquez said. "Today all human rights were violated."

"As of this moment, the government must call it quits," Kairuz, a National Guard general, told Chavez. "You must resign now."

Venezuelan Ombudsman German Mundarain charged snipers had opened fire as at least 50,000 people who marched the three kilometers from Parque del Este to the administrative headquarters of state oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela, or PDVSA, to demand Chavez resign.

Mundarain said snipers fired at the ambulances trying to rescue the wounded.

Venezuela's strike, which has severely interrupted the nation's crucial oil industry, stems from an administrative go-slow launched last week at the state oil giant to express managers' anger at the sacking of the board of directors and the appointment by Chavez of a new board.

One of the strike's organizers, business leaders association Fedecameras, said Thursday that PDVSA and the oil industry were "virtually paralyzed."

Venezuela is the world's fourth-largest oil producer -- it pumps 2.43 million barrels of oil per day, and oil revenues account for 80 percent of the country's annual export revenues. Venezuela is also the third largest foreign supplier to the US market.

In addition to the 11 killed in the anti-Chavez protest, Maniglia late Thursday reported that Vice President Diosdado Cabello's chauffeur had been shot and killed by snipers inside the presidential compound.

"Four snipers have been arrested, one of whom killed Diosdado's driver from a distance," Maniglia told AFP by telephone.