Venezuela’s Chavez calls for investigation of Web column that talks of ‘inevitable’ transition

Chavez urges probe of critical website over column

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called on authorities Sunday to investigate an article on a critical website that he said appears aimed at inciting a coup.

Chavez read aloud from the Noticiero Digital article in which columnist Roberto Carlos Olivares writes that active and former military officers have been meeting to plan an “inevitable” transition in the country.

Speaking on his weekly broadcast program, Chavez said the piece constitutes an apparent crime and told his vice president, “This must be investigated urgently.”

“Attempts to incite a coup d’etat continue appearing, and this cannot be permitted,” Chavez said. The president, who survived a short-lived coup in 2002, has often accused his opponents of plotting against him.

Noticiero Digital, which takes an anti-Chavez line and has repeatedly been criticized by the president, posted a report on Chavez’s remarks but did not immediately respond to his accusation.

Online:

Noticiero Digital: www.noticierodigital.com