Former Venezuelan president predicts coup

Former Venezuelan president predicts coup

MADRID, Spain -- A former Venezuelan president -- who survived a coup attempt by President Hugo Chavez -- said the policies of the current leader would force the military to launch a bloody takeover.

Former leader Carlos Andres Perez, in an interview published by a Spanish newspaper over the weekend, said he opposed a violent overthrow.

"But I'm convinced that only violence will force Chavez to leave. It is being prepared this very moment," Perez said in the El Pais interview.

"Unfortunately, there will be a coup and there will be blood."

Perez, who governed Venezuela from 1974 to 1979 and again from 1989 to 1993, accused Chavez of fomenting instability through misrule and corruption that has devastated the national economy.

Chavez, a left-wing former paratrooper who tried to oust Perez in 1992, was elected to a six-year term in 1998, although opponents are hoping to build support for early elections next year. Last month, 600,000 protesters gathered in Caracas to demand Chavez's resignation.

"Chavez no longer has the support of the people; only the mob supports him," Perez said, claiming Chavez's international backers have dwindled to dictators such as Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, Cuba's Fidel Castro and Moammar Gadhafi of Libya.

Chavez has accused Perez of initiating the April 12-14 coup, in which some generals arrested Chavez after 18 people were shot to death during an opposition march. Troops loyal to Chavez and widespread street protests swept the ousted leader back to power.

Perez was interviewed in the Dominican Republic, where he lives part-time.