-- Nathan Newman ======
April 15, 2002 Fear of Loss of Democracy Led Neighbors to Aid Return By LARRY ROHTER ANTIAGO, Chile, April 14 - Venezuela's neighbors helped pave the way for Hugo Chávez's stunning return to power early today by refusing to accept the legitimacy of the coup that overthrew him and by threatening to impose sanctions, Latin American diplomats say. The efforts opened a breach between the United States and its democratic allies in the Western Hemisphere.
Until this week, the United States had adopted a policy of restraint, apparently content to let Mr. Chávez collapse under his growing unpopularity. There were no obvious American fingerprints on the plot that unseated Mr. Chávez, unlike coups in Guatemala in 1954 or in Chile in 1973. But Latin American countries are now left with the impression that the Bush administration is selective in its support for democracy.
Mr. Chávez's supporters, on the other hand, took heart from an outpouring of criticism by other Latin American governments over the way he was deposed. The initial alarm around the region grew after the military-backed interim president, Pedro Carmona, dissolved Congress and talked of holding presidential elections only after a year had passed - measures that appeared to contravene the existing Constitution.
"I have been and am a critic of many of the characteristics of the government of Hugo Chávez," said President Alejandro Toledo of Peru. But he added that "we are not defending the democratic characteristics of a particular government, we are defending the principle of the rule of law."
The United States refused to characterize the initial ouster of Mr. Chávez as a coup at all, arguing that he had brought his downfall upon himself. "The government suppressed what was a peaceful demonstration of the people," which "led very quickly to a combustible situation in which Chávez resigned," Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman, said on Friday, before Mr. Chávez staged his comeback.
Meeting in Washington this weekend, the Organization of American States approved a resolution condemning "the alteration of the constitutional order" in Venezuela and invoked a new "Democratic Charter" approved last fall. That measure is one of several recent regional initiatives that create mechanisms, including sanctions, to isolate and punish governments that take power through nondemocratic means.
After lobbying behind the scenes for softer language, the United States also voted for the measure. "It was necessary to act energetically and decisively in defense of democratic principles, with or without the support of the United States or lose credibility," one South American ambassador said today.
As Mr. Toledo's remarks indicate, Mr. Chávez's leftist populism and his tendency toward demagoguery seem to make most of Latin America's elected leaders uncomfortable. President Fernando Henrique Cardoso of Brazil has been quoted as calling Mr. Chávez an "unconscious authoritarian," and both Colombia and Peru have persistently complained of his support for forces set on undermining their governments.
But the notion of permitting the armed forces of any Latin American country to resume their past role as ultimate arbiter, able to make and unmake elected presidents at will, is even more unpalatable.
The strongest statements of condemnation of Mr. Chávez's ouster came from countries like Argentina, Paraguay and Peru, which have long histories of military interventions and dictatorships themselves.
President Eduardo Duhalde of Argentina said on Saturday that it was "not good news for the Americas when military coups once again overthrow governments elected by the people."
The initial American stance on the recent events in Venezuela stand in marked contrast to the Clinton administration's position when a similar military uprising occurred in Ecuador in January 2000. After soldiers and Indians overthrew a pro-American president, Jamil Mahuad, State Department officials called the new junta and told its members that Ecuador would become a pariah state, deprived of all financial aid, unless power was handed over to the civilian vice president - and it was.
In Washington today, the Bush administration sought to backtrack slightly from its position without abandoning its criticisms of Mr. Chávez. On the NBC program "Meet the Press," Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser, said this was a "time for national reconciliation" in Venezuela and called on Mr. Chávez to "right his own ship."
"I hope," she added, "that Hugo Chávez takes the message that his people sent him, that his own policies are not working for the Venezuelan people, that he's dealing with them in a highhanded fashion."