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Chavez appoints a civilian as Venezuela's defense minister

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February 4, 2001 

CARACAS, FEB 3 (AP) - In an unexpected twist to his efforts to fuse Venezuela's military with its politics, President Hugo Chavez named a civilian as defense minister - angering some influential officers.

Foreign Minister Jose Vicente Rangel becomes Venezuela's first civilian defense minister in 70 years. He replaces Gen. Ismael Hurtado, criticized for arresting a civilian who recently lambasted the army in a letter to the editor.

Hurtado becomes infrastructure minister. Chavez didn't announce a new foreign minister Friday.

"In the Venezuela that is being born, a civilian-military union is indisputable," said the leftist Chavez, who as an army officer tried to install a civilian-military junta in a bloody Feb. 4, 1992, uprising that failed and killed dozens of soldiers and civilians.

Chavez announced Rangel's appointment during a military parade celebrating the coup attempt and Chavez's inauguration as president on Feb. 2, 1999.

Critics say Chavez is enlisting the army to help him destroy Venezuela's entrenched political class - one he considers corrupt and elitist.

Chavez appointed dozens of generals to key posts after his 1998 election, and a new constitution gave soldiers the right to vote. Troops now build bridges and roads, teach in schools and provide food and medicines to the poor.

The Institutional Military Front, a retired officers group, said Rangel antagonized the military as a left-wing journalist by accusing it of corruption. "Jose Vicente Rangel is an enemy of the armed forces," said Vice Adm. Rafael Huizi.

Rangel, 70, has railed against the military component of Plan Colombia - a U.S.-backed offensive against leftist Colombian rebels. Venezuela fears the plan will exacerbate Colombia's civil war and send thousands of refugees across Venezuela's 1,400-mile (2,240-kilometer) border with Colombia.

Rangel clashed with Colombian Foreign Minister Guillermo Fernandez de Soto over the plan, fueling allegations that Chavez sympathizes with Colombia's leftist guerrillas.

"I would be worried. He's anti-American and pro-guerrilla," said Robert Bottome, editor of Veneconomy magazine.

Rangel said he wants to improve security along the border, where farmers and transport workers frequently complain of guerrilla attacks and kidnappings.

He pledged to bring "unity and understanding" between the military and civilians, adding "the armed forces are prepared and understand this process."

The 46-year-old president insists that 40 years of democratic but corrupt government left Venezuela impoverished despite a huge reservoir of oil that makes the South American nation the world's third-largest oil producer.