Bush's Betrayal of Democracy Posted: Tuesday, April 16, 2002
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Had the armed forces and its allies succeeded in forcing Venezuela's democratically elected president and legislature out of office this past week, Latin America would have experienced its first outright military coup in 26 years, with the notable exception of the overthrow of Haiti's first-ever elected president in 1991. The collapse of democracy in Venezuela would have exacerbated the sharp social tensions in a bitterly divided country that is the United States' third-largest source of imported oil. It also would have seriously undermined hemispheric efforts championed by three previous American presidents to strengthen democracy and the rule of law and put an end to military in politics. A successful coup in Venezuela was averted when it became clear that President Hugo Chavez retained considerable support in the country and the military belatedly realized that the provisional government it had installed severely overreached in a misguided attempt to dismantle the elected legislature and dismiss the supreme court. MORE
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