CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- A judge ordered the arrest of 59 former military officers for conspiring and instigating others to rebel against the government, the state-run press agency reported Saturday.

Most of the officers who declared themselves in rebellion against President Hugo Chavez have gone into hiding, Venpres reported.

Friday's arrest order comes about two weeks after 63 kilograms (138 pounds) of C-4 plastic explosive and 80 detonators were stolen from a navy base.

Chavez says that the explosives could be used by radical opposition groups during an August 15 referendum on whether to recall him from the presidency.

C-4, a common military explosive, was used in the bombings of the Colombian and Spanish embassies in Caracas in 2003. Chavez blamed the attacks on the dissident military officers.

The officers, who are also accused of involvement in embassy bombings in 2003, have denied any involvement in the attacks, but several of them have been arrested in those cases.

The officers' defense attorney, Carlos Bastidas, said Friday that they could not be charged with rebellion because they had only expressed their opinions but had not been involved in plotting against the government.

"A rebellion requires planning and weapons, enough to confront a regime," Bastidas said, speaking on local television and radio stations.

Bastidas couldn't be reached for further comment Saturday.

A group of more than 100 officers declared themselves in rebellion of the government in 2003. Most of them moved into the basement of a public square in eastern Caracas where the opposition gathered to protest.

Among the group of officers ordered to be arrested were three army generals involved in the short-lived coup against Chavez in April 2002.

Venezuelans are deeply divided between those who say Chavez is the first president in decades to care for the poor and those who say he is a threat to one of Latin America's oldest democracies.

On Saturday, Chavez threatened to intervene if the country's largest telephone company, Cantv, were to be involved in any fraud related to the recall referendum. Cantv, owned by U.S. company Verizon Communications, forms part of a consortium that is operating the voting machines. Chavez didn't elaborate on how he would intervene.

Cantv's president, Gustavo Roosen, has denied that fraud could be committed on the transmission of the results, saying the system is strictly controlled.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.