Venezuela parade marks failed Chavez coup

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez presided over a military parade Saturday marking the 20th anniversary of his failed coup attempt and affirmed that the country's armed forces are loyal "Chavistas."
The firebrand leader rode in an open car as he marked the 1992 rebellion which he led against then-president Carlos Andres Perez. The coup failed but thrust Chavez into the political spotlight for his criticism of the government as "subordinate" to the United States.
Also in attendance were Presidents Raul Castro of Cuba, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, and Michel Martelly of Haiti, who were in Caracas for a summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas.
Chavez, who is recovering from cancer treatment and readying his re-election campaign this year, brushed aside criticism from his opponents who have said the armed forces should be cleansed of Chavez loyalists.
The opposition Coalition for Democratic Unity claimed Chavez was trying to force ideology on the armed forces.
But Chavez said the military is "an essentially professional institution, not political." On Friday, he said the armed forces "have Chavez in their heart, in their core, in their soul."