By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
 

Bush administration officials forcefully defended themselves yesterday against criticism that they had interfered with the
democratic process in Venezuela, saying they had done their best to respond to fast-moving events about which they knew little
more than what they were seeing on television. Rather than supporting the self-declared government that temporarily seized
power last week from President Hugo Chavez, officials said, they acted quickly to stem its excesses.

Assistant Secretary of State Otto J. Reich acknowledged the administration had contacted the Venezuelan businessman
installed in Chavez's place last Friday. Reich said he had instructed Charles Shapiro, the U.S. ambassador in Caracas, to call
Pedro Carmona that night to express concern over unconstitutional actions Carmona had taken, including the dissolution of the
Venezuelan National Assembly.

Shapiro repeated the message in a visit to Carmona on Saturday morning. "It would have been irresponsible not to do it," Reich
said. He denied published reports that he had called Carmona himself or that the administration had advised the military and
business leaders who seized control of the government.

But whatever took place during last week's tumult, the overall result appeared to be a foreign policy setback for a White House
already reeling from bruising events in the Middle East. It occurred in a part of the world that President Bush has said he feels
closest to, and that he has declared to be among his administration's highest priorities.

Not only has Chavez remained in power, but what had been a steadily growing drumbeat of domestic and hemispheric
opposition to his increasingly undemocratic rule has likely been undermined, for the moment at least, by the anti-democratic
tactics of those who tried to oust him. Long before last week, a number of administration officials had said they believed that
Chavez eventually would fall from the weight of domestic, democratic opposition and that any U.S. involvement would only
postpone that day by legitimizing his anti-American rhetoric.

"We didn't wink, we didn't nod, we didn't insinuate and we didn't encourage any unconstitutional change of government in
Venezuela in any way," a senior administration official said.

But in the view of some informed observers, the administration fundamentally misread the balance of power in a region where it
claims high interest and expertise, and believed the anticipated day of Chavez's demise had arrived.

"There was a lot of self-fulfillment going on here," said a non-U.S. diplomat with long experience in the region. Although a
number of Venezuelan military leaders had criticized Chavez in recent months, and a massive anti-Chavez strike had brought
the country to a halt last week, the administration "vastly underestimated Chavez's residual strength," the diplomat said.

Few Latin American officials believe the United States promoted the coup attempt. "Everybody understands that there wasn't a
wink or a nod," said one. "But what there was was an initial certainty on their part that [the attempt] would succeed."

Skeptics include members of Congress who have charged that at the very least the situation was handled amateurishly by
appointed officials. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Foreign Relations subcommittee on Western
Hemisphere affairs, said Tuesday that those handling the crisis lacked "adult" supervision while Secretary of State Colin L.
Powell was in the Middle East.

Administration officials have been repeatedly asked why they did not question the assertion of senior military officials, who
presented no proof that Chavez had voluntarily resigned. At midday Friday, hours after Chavez had been seen leaving the
presidential palace under military escort, and shortly after the military announcement, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer
announced his voluntary departure as fact.

Asked what independent evidence they had, senior officials offered several responses. "Mr. Chavez had been taken away. He
was in custody," said one. "We had no evidence to the contrary. We were told he was going to be tried. . . . We were told he
was being spirited out of the country," most likely to Cuba. Later, however, the official said, "Even today, we don't have all the
facts. . . . I don't have any evidence for or against."

Another high-level official said that Fleischer's statement was merely "sharing the information that was available," largely through
the media.

At the same time Friday, however, administration lawyers studying the Venezuelan constitution noted that presidential
resignations are invalid until they are accepted by the National Assembly, which also has the sole power to install a new head of
state.

"We heard this new interim government was going to disband the Assembly and the Supreme Court," said another senior
official. "We recognized this was in violation of the constitution and we could not work with them."

By the time Shapiro had twice passed that message to Carmona, many in the military had also studied the constitution and
switched sides, and Carmona quickly resigned as Chavez supporters took to the streets.

                                 © 2002