DISSIDENT VENEZUELAN MILITARY OFFICERS CALL ON COUNTRY TO REJECT PRESIDENT CHAVEZS RULE, 2002-10-22 (photo)

Television grab of a dissident group of Venezuelan military officers opposed to left-wing President Hugo Chavez, who called on the country's armed forces and civilian population to reject his rule, October 22, 2002. The 15 officers, most of whom are already facing court martial inquiries for their alleged role in a short-lived coup against Chavez in April, made the call in a live broadcast carried by private television channels. "Venezuelans, the time has come to end this tyranny and this dictatorship," Gen. Enrique Medina Gomez said in a statement he read out in front of 14 other officers from different branches of the armed forces. It was not immediately clear what impact the officers' call would have, as most of them already have been sidelined from active command duties following the April coup that briefly toppled former paratrooper Chavez in the world's No. 5 oil exporter. REUTERS/RTV HB/