CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters): Venezuelan authorities have indicted a retired general for "military rebellion," his lawyer said on Thursday, as state media and President Hugo Chavez played up talk of a presidential assassination plot.
Pro-Chavez state television played a recording purportedly of Gen. Ramon Guillen's son discussing a plot involving his father to kill the leftist president of the OPEC nation. Chavez is supported by the poor majority but hated by traditional elites.
However, lawyer Guillermo Heredia said the indictment against the general made no reference either to this possibly illegal recording or an assassination plot. The nature of the alleged "military rebellion" was unclear.
Heredia said Guillen was not guilty of any attempt to oust the president by fomenting a military putsch.
Chavez was briefly ousted in a military coup in 2002. Since then political analysts reckon he has brought enough loyalists into senior positions to offset the threat of army unrest.
In public broadcasts over the last weeks, Chavez has made increased reference to plots to kill him.
From the late 1980s to early 1990s, Guillen commanded the anti-narcotics unit of the Venezuelan National Guard, where he worked closely with the CIA.
Chavez regularly accuses US agents of trying to kill him, which Washington denies. In the run-up to last year's presidential election, Chavez accused the opposition of plotting with the United States to stir up a military coup.
The opposition denied the charges, which were supported only by vague and circumstantial evidence.
A US court indicted Guillen over drug trafficking in 1997, but failed to extradite him. The general insisted he was innocent.
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