Hello Again, Mr President: Justin Webster Meets Hugo Chavez, the In-out-In Ruler of Venezuela, and Finds He Still Fears for His Life. and with His Army Opponents Saying He Is Supported by a Layer of Thin Air, He Has Every Reason to Worry. (Features)

Webster, Justin, New Statesman (1996)

Heightened security around Hugo Chavez, the maverick president of Venezuela, is just one hint of the fragility of his grip on power, despite his dramatic and popular reinstatement a month after the military coup that ousted him from government.

Chavez is convinced that he had a narrow escape from death during the coup on 11 April, which left 17 Venezuelans dead on the streets. And he believes there are still plots afoot to assassinate him.

"In those moments when I was captive, out of contact, taken at night to an inhospitable place by the sea, I thought they were going to kill me. There are people who want to kill me, and I thought this was their opportunity," he confided later.

But when, after days of waiting and last-minute changes to our interview plans, I eventually meet Chavez at his official home, it is impossible to guess from his cheerful, confident manner that he still faces determined opposition, and even hatred, from influential sectors of Venezuelan society …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Hello Again, Mr President: Justin Webster Meets Hugo Chavez, the In-out-In Ruler of Venezuela, and Finds He Still Fears for His Life. and with His Army Opponents Saying He Is Supported by a Layer of Thin Air, He Has Every Reason to Worry. (Features). Contributors: Webster, Justin - Author. Magazine title: New Statesman (1996). Volume: 131. Issue: 4588 Publication date: May 20, 2002. Page number: 28+. © Not available. COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.