The 24-Hour Coup

THE HEMISPHERE

At 4 a.m. in Caracas' Miraflores Palace one day last week, the classic challenge of a military usurper faced the moderately leftist government of President Romulo Betancourt. An hour earlier General Jesus Maria Castro Leon, 51, former Defense Minister and a tinkling symbol of Venezuela's top brass, had crossed the Colombian frontier. Proceeding to San Cristobal (pop. 90,000), 385 miles southwest of Caracas, he took over its 500-man garrison from a disloyal colonel and by radio urged other generals to help him "restore the prestige of the armed forces."

The 14 months of Betancourt's constitutional regime have been the longest period in Venezuela's turbulent 150 years in which the armed forces have been out of power. How would the brass now answer Castro Leon's call to renewed power?

After an anxious early-morning hour, the heads of the services came to Miraflores Palace, joined with the President in a phone poll of the garrisons and the state governors. At 7 a.m., Betancourt walked to waiting microphones, and announced over the radio: "The air, ground and naval forces support the government."

Just a Minute. With that, Castro Leon's little show was over. The loyal service chiefs gave orders to strafe the rebel HQ and to fly in loyal troops, but heavy rains halted the operation. It was never needed. In San Cristobal, the Tachira National Guard remained loyal, and the high school students roamed the streets in defiance of Rebel Castro Leon; the best he could do was shoot the high school full of holes. He sent 130 men to capture nearby San Antonio Airfield, but instead the troops rejoined the government. He sent 180 more to take another airport at La Fria; 200 peasants armed by the Guard beat them off.

Twenty-four hours after he arrived, Castro Leon quit San Cristobal, leaving the radio to chatter his taped call to greatness. Air Force planes flying overhead to attack were called off moments before they could fire a shot. Eleven hours later, eight armed peasants captured Castro Leon and five companions, just 20 minutes away from the Colombian border.

Too Much Support? Betancourt came out of the experience with nationwide support, perhaps more enthusiastic than he wanted. University students began gassing up beer bottles to make Molotov cocktails, and the trade unions called a general strike that not only made no sense but also went on for 16 hours after the coup ended. One trade-union chief threatened future military Putschists with civil war, and read a cable from Cuba's government offering 1,000 armed men. Betancourt showed less vulnerability to military coups than might have been foreseen, but he still has the problem of fending off the bear hug from the extreme left.

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