'You massacre us, and you are killing us with hunger'

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) --Cheered by thousands of civilians, a rising number of
dissident military officers demanded that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez resign
after he accused them of trying to instigate a coup.

Among them was Gen. Manuel Rosendo, former operations commander for the
armed forces.

"You don't represent us. You massacre us, and you are killing us with hunger,"
said Rosendo, dismissed from his post after refusing Chavez's orders to deploy
troops against an opposition march.

Nineteen people died in the April 11 march, many of them victims of
pro-Chavez gunmen. Rosendo joined others in ousting Chavez on April 12.
Chavez was restored April 14 after interim President Pedro Carmona dissolved
Venezuela's constitution.

Army Gen. Enrique Medina Gomez said at least 80 officials have joined the
protest, which began Tuesday with a call for rebellion by 14 officers. Gen.
Rene Sericia Garcia told El Nacional newspaper that 700 soldiers backed the
uprising but could not speak out because the army had confined them to
barracks.

Rosendo accused Chavez late Thursday of converting the armed forces into
little more than a militia supposed to serve only Chavez "and a revolution that
no one understands."

"We have a president who doesn't want to govern" but only wants power,
Rosendo thundered. He urged labor, business, civic and political leaders to
continue pressing Chavez to resign and for new elections.

President's supporters hold competing rally

Across town, hundreds of Chavez supporters rallied for their president at a
park near the presidential palace.

Venezuela is deadlocked between Chavez, elected in 1998 on a
poverty-fighting platform, and a frustrated opposition that wants a fast vote to
ease social tensions and measure Chavez's support. The opposition claims
Chavez has divided the nation with class-warfare rhetoric and cannot manage
an economy mired in recession.

The Organization of American States and United Nations have sent mediators
to try to avert more violence in this oil-producing nation, a member of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and a major supplier to the
United States. OAS Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria will try again Sunday.

Chavez accused the dissidents Thursday of inciting a coup under the guise of a
constitutional provision allowing citizens to rebel against an undemocratic
government.

Like Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel, who described the officers as
"clowns," Chavez dismissed the rally in an eastern Caracas plaza as "a show."

An angry army Gen. Julio Lara Guzman told cheering civilians: "All of you here
are not in a show, and we are not clowns."

A group of national guardsmen, led by Brig. Gen. Jose Rodriguez Infante,
echoed the point as they, too, declared themselves in rebellion.

Chavez said he was encouraged that some opposition leaders were "showing
signs of reason" by distancing themselves from coup-plotting and collecting
signatures for a referendum on his rule.

But he did not respond to demands that he call a vote in December. He has
said the constitution allows a binding referendum on his rule in 2003, halfway
into his six-year term.

Just this month, Chavez has faced two alleged assassination plots, an alleged
coup plot, a general strike and a massive opposition march. He has responded
with a march of his own. Now the opposition plans a November 4 march to
deliver 1.5 million signatures demanding a referendum.

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.