In Midst Of Calm, Venezuelans Jittery

Many Venezuelans still have the jitters a week after military rebellions, massacres and riots shook their country, and some fear it could happen again if there isn't a national reconciliation.

"I'm scared because the situation is so uncertain. It feels like anything could happen here," said Milagros Rodriguez, 34, a street peddler selling household wares in downtown Caracas.

Daily life has returned to normal following the April 11 coup that forced President Hugo Chavez from office and the April 14 countercoup that brought him back. The streets of Caracas are busy. Television and radio stations have returned to normal programming.

But the tension lingers.

Hospitals in Caracas have reported an increased number of patients with stress disorders, insomnia, and even heart attacks since April 11.

"The feeling of pain and frustration that one group felt with the fall of the government, and the other group felt the next day with the government retaking power, produced obvious effects like irregular heartbeats," Jose Octavio, a professor of medicine at the Central University of Venezuela, told the local newspaper El Nacional.

This South American nation of 24 million remains polarized along political lines: those opposed to Chavez - a fiery populist and friend to Cuban President Fidel Castro - and those supporting the leftist former paratrooper.

"The country is totally divided, and I'm afraid it's going to be like this for quite some time," said Anibal Romero, a political science professor at Simon Bolivar University.

"I think that's one of the reasons there is still so much tension in the air. If there isn't reconciliation, something like this could happen again," added Romero.

Chavez, whose bruising leftist rhetoric is widely blamed for fanning the tensions, appeared to be taking at least one step toward calming the country's nerves Sunday - by not speaking much.

Known for his hours-long harangues, Chavez canceled his traditional weekly television address on Sunday. A presidential spokesman said the cancellation was a sign of respect for 10 high-ranking military officers killed in a helicopter crash Friday, an accident apparently caused by bad weather.

Chavez mounted a stern-faced, silent honor guard before the coffins of the officers at a Caracas air base later in the day, prior to the victim's funerals. He did not speak to the assembled journalists.

In a sense, it was a relief for people like taxi driver Francisco Arteaga, who had been half-dreading a typical Chavez harangue against the opposition on Sunday. "I hope he speaks calmly and without stirring things up," said Arteaga Saturday, before the cancellation was announced.

Others have stronger reasons for being nervous: they are receiving death threats.

Liliana Ortega, director of the human rights group Cofavic, told the Associated Press that she has been receiving death threats over the telephone and through e-mails.

"It's horrible, but I have to keep working," said Ortega. "I can't stop what I'm doing."

Ortega is investigating the bloodshed at the April 11 anti-Chavez march that led to the military uprising later that day. The shootings left at least 16 dead, and some of those who fired on the crowd from rooftops have yet to be identified.

Labor leaders also say they have been threatened.

Carlos Ortega, the president of the million-member Venezuelan Workers Confederation, came out of hiding on Saturday.

Government authorities told Ortega they would guarantee his security. But he said he remains uncertain of that.

"Until the situation in the country normalizes again, we can't rule out any assassination attempt against any labor leader," he said. "It's something that is on the horizon."