CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) -- Venezuela said on Wednesday it has
                  uncovered a plan to assassinate army chief Gen. Ruben Rojas, who himself
                  has been accused of plotting to block a former coup leader's bid to be
                  become president in December elections.

                  Defense Minister Tito Rincon said one army major and a retired lieutenant
                  were being held by military intelligence investigating "comments about a
                  possible attempt on (the life of) Gen. Rojas," who is President Rafael
                  Caldera's son-in-law.

                  At least five civilians were thought to be involved in the plot and security
                  around Rojas had been reinforced, Rincon told reporters.

                  Rojas was appointed army head in a surprise move by Caldera in June. He
                  has become the centre of a growing controversy in recent weeks which
                  some politicians say has created deep divisions within the army ahead of
                  December's presidential vote.

                  Leading presidential candidate Hugo Chavez, a former paratrooper who led
                  a bloody coup attempt six years ago, has leveled repeated charges in recent
                  days that Rojas was rallying troops to head off his election victory.

                  Chavez, whose nationalist, anti-corruption platform alarms the country's
                  ruling elite, warned on Monday that any attempt to disrupt or suspend the
                  Dec. 6 election could "lead us into a war situation, a real war with bullets,
                  not words."

                  Rincon insisted that the armed forces would remain impartial in the electoral
                  process.

                  Despite two failed coup attempts in 1992, the oil-rich country of 22 million
                  people has long been considered one of Latin America's most stable
                  countries with an unbroken history of democratic government since 1958.

                  Rojas upset Chavez supporters soon after assuming his new post by saying
                  that the army did "not back those who took up arms against the republic."

                  But the growing feud between the two men escalated last week when a
                  face-to-face meeting as part of a series of encounters between top military
                  brass and presidential candidates was cancelled at the last minute.

                  Chavez' main political rival, Yale-educated economist Henrique Salas, said
                  the dispute, "only seeks to divide the armed forces into two groups and
                  weaken the institutions."

                  the dispute, "only seeks to divide the armed forces into two groups and
                  weaken the institutions."

                  Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.