Chavez warns opposition that violence will be met with violence

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Four days after protesters took over a plaza in Caracas, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accused dissident officers Friday of "cooking up a military insurrection" and warned that violence will be met with violence.

Chavez's denunciations came after three key military garrisons proclaimed their loyalty to their commander in chief.

"If they try to seize power with arms, we will respond with arms," Chavez declared in a speech at the presidential palace. "I am not going to resign."

Since Tuesday, thousands of civilians have rallied at the Plaza Francia, where dissident officers have transformed a hotel into a virtual barracks, complete with security checks of journalists and others seeking entrance.

The military officers want Chavez to resign and call early elections -- or at least a quick referendum to measure his support.

By Friday, their numbers had grown to 100, most of whom were stripped of their command for their roles in a brief April coup.

The standoff has alarmed neighbors of this Andean nation, the world's fifth-largest oil producer and a leading oil supplier to the United States. They've condemned the insurrection call and endorsed a peacemaking visit this Sunday by Cesar Gaviria, secretary general of the Organization of American States.

Chavez called the dissidents "fascists" sowing hate in Venezuelan society and declared: "Where would they take this country?" He told citizens to be ready "to take to the streets to defend our Venezuelan democracy."

Army Gen. Jorge Luis Garcia Carneiro, head of Caracas' Fort Tiuna, declared his "total support" for Chavez and urged Venezuelans to resolve the crisis peacefully.

Commanders of the Fourth Army Division in Maracay -- Venezuela's military nerve center -- and the First Division in the oil-producing state of Zulia also warned they will defend Chavez and the constitution.

"How are they (the dissidents) going to explain to the country and the world their real goal of creating parallel military in an area they've 'liberated,'?" said First Division Cmdr. Gen. Alberto Gutierrez.

"Is this another way of promoting a coup d'etat?" he said.

Dissident army Gen. Enrique Medina Gomez insisted a coup isn't in the works. He and others argue a constitutional clause allows them to refuse to recognize an "undemocratic" government.

Chavez responded that thousands of Venezuelans invoked the same clause during the April coup when interim President Pedro Carmona dissolved Venezuela's constitution. Chavez's supporters surrounded the palace, demanding his return to power. He was restored April 14.

Officers ousted Chavez on April 12 after 19 people were killed in an opposition march on the palace and commanders refused Chavez's orders to deploy troops against civilians.

The former army paratrooper was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000. His critics say he has amassed authoritarian powers giving him sway over the National Assembly and the courts and that he has created a private militia known as Bolivarian Circles. Despite high Venezuelan oil prices, the economy is in a tailspin.

Chavez insists a corrupt oligarchy that impoverished Venezuela before his election wants its privileges back.