By TIM JOHNSON and ANDRES OPPENHEIMER
             Herald Staff Writers

             CUA, Venezuela -- A blurry and amateurish video of a private meeting earlier this
             year is giving the chills to opponents of Hugo Chavez, the former military coup
             leader who may win Sunday's presidential election.

             It shows Chavez swearing in dozens of retired military officers as members of the
             Ezequiel Zamora Military Front. Together, they chant: ``Horror to the oligarchy!''

             Chavez tells them they are now ``active forces'' under his command.

             Whether the unit contains the seeds of a parallel army or is simply an association to
             rally political support for Chavez among retired military men is a point of dispute in
             Venezuela.

             Foes say the military front, which now has thousands of members, is an armed
             shock force ready to rumble if Chavez is denied victory. Supporters say the unit
             contains unarmed Chavez activists -- retired army people who have the same right
             to be politically active as any other citizen.

             What seems clear is that the 44-year-old Chavez relies strongly on former soldiers
             for political support and uses profoundly charged language that makes some of his
             countrymen fearful of impending violence.

             It is also evident that Chavez plans dramatic changes for Venezuela's
             110,000-member armed forces, which include the national guard. Under Chavez,
             the military would engage in widespread civic action projects.

             Opponents of Chavez charge him with preparing for a violent spree if things don't
             go his way Sunday -- even as polls give him up to a 12-point lead.

             ``Chavez maintains armed bands and has begun to say that election fraud will be
             committed against him, to justify the activation of these bands if he loses the
             election,'' said Henrique Salas Romer, the Yale-educated former governor who is
             Chavez's main opponent, as he closed his campaign this week.

             A few days earlier, governors-elect from nine of Venezuela's 23 states accused
             Chavez of plotting violent protests if he doesn't get elected.

             Chavez's predictions

             In a fiery speech Wednesday night before hundreds of thousands of supporters in
             Caracas, Chavez predicted he would win 60 to 80 percent of the vote. If such
             results are not respected, ``We'll make them be respected,'' he said. He asserted
             that Salas was backed by a ``stinking, nauseous bag'' of corrupt politicians, and
             called his own followers ``soldier-citizens'' preparing for Venezuela's rebirth.

             Guarding the throng were members of the Ezequiel Zamora Military Front, all
             sporting the trademark red beret worn by Chavez, an ex-paratroop commander.

             The blurry video of the Military Front's first meeting, held sometime in February in
             Cua, a city 45 miles south of Caracas, was provided to The Herald by Alejandro
             Peña Esclusa, a minor presidential candidate who is the son of a retired general
             and a bitter critic of Chavez.

             In the tape, Chavez asks some 40 or 50 retired soldiers and officers to raise their
             right hands. They do. All then take an oath:

             ``I swear for my country that I will not rest my arm nor my soul until we have
             broken the chains that oppress our people by those who hold power. Free land
             and free men! Free elections, and horror to the oligarchy!''

             Then, bellowing in a fierce tone, Chavez promises that ``I will not bow down nor
             will my hand tremble when it comes time to do what has to be done, whatever
             happens.''

             The naming of the front after Ezequiel Zamora holds deep symbolism for
             Venezuelans. Zamora, who lived from 1819 to 1860, led a popular rebellion that
             clamored for direct elections and abolition of slavery. Chavez's
             great-great-grandfather, Ramon Chavez, died while fighting with Zamora.

             `Loved and hated'

             Today, some view Zamora as a lower-class outlaw given as much to robbing
             ranches as fighting for social justice.

             ``He is a hero who is both loved and hated in our country,'' said Napoleon Zerpa,
             a Chavez campaign coordinator in Cua.

             Zerpa said the Ezequiel Zamora Military Front now extends across Venezuela and
             has ``many thousands'' of members.

             He described it simply as an activist ``front'' -- or political grouping -- for retired
             military men, like other fronts the Chavez campaign has set up for teachers,
             farmers, women, youth, educators and drivers.

             ``There is no militia, nor are there any shock troops,'' added Hector Davila, a
             senior Chavez campaign official.

             ``Just because we have a lot of military members doesn't mean that the movement
             is militaristic,'' echoed Luis Laguado, another Chavez campaign aide.

             While debate swirls over whether Chavez may be preparing for violence, analysts
             say his heavy reliance on former soldiers -- both for personal security and political
             backing -- makes him a rarity among candidates in Latin American democracies
             today.

             The `military family'

             At least 150,000 families of retired military men support Chavez, said Jose
             Heriberto Machillando, a former army colonel who holds a doctorate from the
             University of Pittsburgh.

             ``I honestly believe that the vote from what I call the `military family' could reach
             500,000,'' he said, noting that spouses and offspring often cast ballots for the same
             candidate as the retired soldier.

             Such a bloc in this nation of 24 million could be decisive, he said.

             As in most of Latin America, the constitution in Venezuela prohibits active-duty
             soldiers from voting, a holdover from an era of frequent military coups.

             Reservists and retired soldiers are permitted to vote, however, and they are
             allowed to keep their service weapons.

             Machillando said Chavez, if elected, is likely to steer the armed forces on a
             different path, sending them on huge development projects.

             ``Just think, if you have two battalions of engineers, in two months they could build
             1,000 houses,'' he said. ``What does the army gain with this? Work and prestige.''

             Critics say that, by doing that, Chavez will politicize the army, and turn it into a key
             player in Venezuela's political future. ``That may be the worst part of Chavez's
             legacy: giving the military a leading role in politics,'' said Diego Arria, a former
             Venezuelan ambassador to the United Nations.
 

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