Hugo Chavez is reporting a coup attempt against him, but the details are suspicious and immediately raise possibilities that it is a fake.
Chavez claimed that an attempted coup “by a soldier on the run in the U.S.” was thwarted and “the situation is under control.”
Chavez said contact was made by the coup organizers with military units in opposition-ruled areas of the country. All coup participants have been arrested, including those who received text messages directing their coup activities. Those who did not promptly report the messages to their superiors have been arrested.
Chavez also asserts that “We’ve also seized weapons of war: rocket launchers, rocket-propelled grenades and C4 explosives.”
Now this is why it is suspicious.
A key referendum comes to vote next week extending Chavez’s constitutionally limited rule. A similar vote went down to defeat just 15 months ago. Falling oil prices, mismanagement of Venezuela’s economy and wild promises to the poor, Chavez’s most reliable supporters, have brought Venezuela to the edge of economic collapse.
With a less favorable electoral climate than when his first referendum went down to defeat, Chavez has to turn to his reliable bogeyman – the United States – for an electoral surge. We should expect Chavez to release information showing that the U.S. financed the entire adventure.
Venezuela has reported the arrest of coup organizers and is interrogating them now. This is probably just an excuse to get some of his critics off the street. Chavez’s implication that areas ruled by opposition leaders are a focal point of the coup is not a new tactic either. In the past, he has directed his anger to states ruled by opposition governors. This has included barring opposition candidates from running and arresting others.
This “coup” has the script of a staged Chavez attempt to bring out his supporters to vote for a continuation of his strongman rule.
