Officers say Chávez won't tolerate dissent

[Zorro]

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Hundreds of Venezuelan military officers are no longer assigned duties and have been relegated to their homes, quietly pushed aside for their dissent under President Hugo Chávez, according to former military commanders and a watchdog group.

They say the officers have been sidelined for objecting to Chávez's socialist ideology, his push to form civilian militias and his ambiguous stance toward Colombia's leftist rebels.

Dissident army Gen. Angel Vivas Perdomo says he sought to defend the military's apolitical tradition when he asked the Supreme Court to toss out Chávez's order for troops to salute with the motto: "Fatherland, socialism or death — we will triumph."

"It's a motto from Fidel in Cuba that, on top of being unconstitutional, is absolutely undemocratic," Vivas Perdomo said in his first interview since challenging the motto in court in May.

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More at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008023809_venezuela29.html