United States and Venezuela: A Historical Background

JAMES PETRAS—Washington began a hostile campaign to pressure President Chavez to accept Washington’s (President Bush) global war agenda in Afghanistan and around the world. Chavez refused to submit. He declared, “You don’t fight terror with terror”. By late 2001 the US Ambassador met with the business elite and a sector of the military to oust President-elect Chavez via a coup in April 2002. The coup lasted 24 hours. Over a million people, mostly slum dwellers, marched to the Presidential palace, backed by military loyalists. They defeated the coup and restored President Chavez to power.

Section: US EXCEPTIONALISM