VENEZUELA: Venezuelan President Mr Hugo Chavez faced a constitutional crisis this weekend after the nation's Supreme Court ruled that dissident army officers had broken no law in backing a coup in April. The coup removed President Chavez from power for 48 hours.
"None of the statements by the accused had the intention of impeding government rule," read the tribunal's ruling. "The statements were a reaction to the violence that occurred on the day."
The narrow vote, 11 to eight, proved more controversial after a leaked tape recording revealed yesterday that undue pressure had been brought in the case.
"Everything is on track, but we need to win by a few votes," said Mr Tobias Carrero, director of a major insurance company, speaking in private to an opposition leader.
Mr Carrero's conversation has been denounced by the government as "grave meddling" in court affairs.
President Chavez also intervened in the case, urging judges to define the April events as a coup rather than a power vacuum.
The court ruling may open the way to impeachment proceedings against Mr Chavez who is held responsible by opposition leaders for the deaths of 18 people on the day of the coup, April 11th.
At least 11 of the victims were Chavez supporters, who occupied a bridge to prevent protesters reaching the presidential palace.
The court decision was legally possible thanks to constitutional reforms made by President Chavez in 1999, when he ruled that army officers could no longer be put on trial on orders of the president. Before that, Venezuelan army chiefs had been pawns in rival political party manoeuvres, with presidential powers used to reward or punish the ranks.
President Chavez, outraged by the verdict, urged citizens to read the entire ruling, "to understand the magnitude of this insult to the people". The Supreme Court president, Mr Iván Rincón, regretted publicly that the judges failed to take into account "any" of the proofs presented by the prosecution.
"No sword has to be drawn for the crime of rebellion to occur," he argued. "The accused officers threatened to bombard the presidential palace so the threat of violence was explicit."
Meanwhile, army general Raúl Baduell, whose paratrooper unit played a key role in returning President Chavez to power, expressed anger at the outcome. "If these officials didn't break any law, then who did?" He requested that the case be revised under military law.
The court announcement was greeted with violent clashes between Chavez supporters and National Guard police, leaving 15 people injured, two of them suffering gunshot wounds.