SFGate -- Military backs Venezuela president

"There have been calls and propositions, even from high levels, of an economic nature that at this point have reached hundreds of thousands of dollars," Baduel, a 26-year army veteran and commander of Venezuela's most important division, told a group of foreign reporters on Thursday at his office in the city of Maracay.

The telephone calls have come by the dozens, from leaders of the antigovernment movement, ordinary Venezuelans and even a couple of military officers, all pleading with Gen. Raul Baduel for his help in removing President Hugo Chavez from power

At Plaza Altamira, a public square in an affluent section of Caracas that has become the center of antigovernment activity, generals and admirals who withdrew support for Chavez in April rail against him daily. Privately, they urge their former colleagues to join them, hoping to split the military and weaken the government. But they also acknowledge that the president has strengthened his hold.

"He took us out of our key jobs in the armed forces, and he put in people close to his ideology," lamented Gen. Carlos Alfonzo, the former second in command of the National Guard. "Every day that passes, he is gaining more space in the armed forces."

ITV notes that meanwhile Condoleezza Rice, President George W. Bush's national security adviser, is warning Chavez. "I hope that Hugo Chavez takes the message that his people sent him, that his own policies are not working for the Venezuela people, that he's dealt with them in a high-handed fashion," Rice said.

"We do hope that Chavez recognises that the whole world is watching and that he takes advantage of this opportunity to right his own ship, which has been moving, frankly, in the wrong direction for quite a long time," said Condoleezza Rice, President George W. Bush's national security adviser.

The BBC notes that their Foreign Office has urged Britons to leave Venezuala.

Families of British diplomats and non-essential members of staff will be withdrawn and all other Britons are being advised to leave the South American country.

A strike by oil workers opposed to President Hugo Chavez is now in its 20th day and a Foreign Office spokesman said: "This is likely to impact on critical supplies of essential commodities in coming days and might in turn trigger disturbances."