Opus Dei is an organization within the Catholic Church. I recall reading that
some of the people involved in the recent aborted Venezuela coup were Opus Dei
members, but don't recall where I read it and can't find it now.

Can you find the news stories that reported that some coup members were Opus Dei
adherents?

Bob,

Most of the news coverage on the coup seems to be focused on whether or not the 
U.S. was involved, but I did find a few sources that refer to a possible link 
between the coup and either Opus Dei or the Catholic Church:

“The armed forces appear deeply split in the wake of the April 12 coup against 
the president, whose chummy style and populist promises scored with Venezuela's 
poor majority but whose autocratic manner put him on a collision course with 
the middle-class, business leaders and the Roman Catholic Church.”
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americas/04/21/venezuela.reut/index.html

and in a paragraph about arms dealers in Venezuela:

“The other group is said to gyrate around Israel’s gun industries, represented 
in Venezuela by a group very close to Perez Recao, Interim President Carmona´s 
boss in Venoco (a previous job), in whose house the Opus Dei´s ‘coup inside the 
coup’ was forged. Who will now sell arms to Venezuela?”
http://www.content-wire.com/FreshPicks/Index.cfm?ccs=86&cs=1709

On the internet board Kuro5hin (posted by individuals, not through the press):

“Chavez' opposition, which primarily consisted of Venezuela's old guard in the 
media, the union federation, the business sector, the church, and the 
traditionally conservative military, never cared about any of these 
achievements. Instead, they took advantage of their media monopoly to turn 
public opinion against him and managed to turn his biggest liability, his 
autocratic and inflammatory style, against him. Progressive civil society had 
either been silenced or demonized as violent Chavez fanatics.”
http://www.kuro5hin.org/comments/2002/4/12/115136/878?pid=110#131

and

The Coup was organized by elite sectors of the Business, Military and the 
Catholic Church ("Opus Dei") all of them backed by the media.”
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/4/12/115136/878


It is better documented that the new government included more than one Opus Dei 
member:

“Carmona had named a government that included several members of the 
ultraconservative Roman Catholic group Opus Dei but not key military and labor 
members of the coalition. Even worse, he had decreed the dissolution of the 
National Assembly, the Supreme Court and the dismissal of every mayor and 
governor.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-042202venez.story

“Carmona was installed and almost immediately issued a decree dissolving the 
national assembly and the supreme court, and announced a far-right government 
including, as foreign minister, Jose Rodriguez Iturbe, a member of the 
rightwing Catholic organisation Opus Dei.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,688281,00.html


Some useful URLs:

Official Opus Dei Website
     http://www.opusdei.org/

Search terms Used:
     "Opus dei" venezuela coup

on news.google.com:
     opus dei


Regards,
Cindy

"While he lost the election, Lavin’s high profile revealed that Pinochetistas 
are still trying to take the country back. A former Pinochet collaborator, 
Lavin is a member of Opus Dei, which The Guardian described as “an ultra 
conservative Catholic group.”"

http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/pettiferapril2000.htm

"While he lost the election, Lavin’s high profile revealed that Pinochetistas 
are still trying to take the country back. A former Pinochet collaborator, 
Lavin is a member of Opus Dei, which The Guardian described as “an ultra 
conservative Catholic group.”"

http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/pettiferapril2000.htm

Thx for the link.  Different coup though!  This one is from Chile, I'm looking
for Venezuela, however I will go to Zmag and other related sites and investigate
there.  Good idea.

Try the following Google search string:
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22opus+dei%22+%2Bcoup+%2Bvenezuela

Should help some...

Dear Bob Morris,

Thank you for your inquiry.  Unfortunately, after a fairly extensive search I 
could not unearth any mainstream publications that mention a connection between 
the Venezuelan coup and the Catholic group, Opus Dei.  Most speculations seem 
to be centered on U.S involvement in the coup and these speculations dominate 
the news and the message boards.

The one brief inference of a connection comes from a website called Spies 
Café.  “The CIA, which had a special covert team in Venezuela since last June, 
had groomed these potential coup leaders, which now appears to have also 
included members of the proto-fascist Roman Catholic cult, the Opus Dei. The 
cult recently gained notoriety from one of its former high-ranking members of 
the U.S. counter-intelligence community, convicted FBI spy Robert Hanssen.”  
The rest of the article can be found at: 
http://www.spiescafe.com/wm/wmuscoups.htm.

There may be a mention of the connection on non-English sites.  One example is 
at a Spanish e-zine called Liga Antimperialista and can be found at:  
http://www.lai-aib.org/lai/article_lai.phtml?section=A4ABBUDB&object_id=8922 .



In multimedia, one may be able to find more in-depth coverage.  Two sources are:

NPR
http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/cmnpd01fm.cfm?PrgDate=9%2F20%2F1999&PrgID=2 
There are 2 pieces on the Venezuelan coup.

Kameraone
http://www.kameraone.com/home.jsp?n_rows=10&category_id=77&sortOrder=3


Additional Information
In researching this for you, I came across some other sites that also might be 
of interest to you.

Pope helps Opus Dei founder towards sainthood
http://www.blythe.org/nytransfer-
subs/2001cov/CIA_Pope_Plans_Sainthood_for_Fascist_Opus_Dei_Founder

American Atheist Journal 
http://www.americanatheist.org/pope99/calvi.html
Opus Dei origins & History – about ¾ down the page.

CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americas/04/12/chavez.chronology.ap/index.html
Hugo Chavez: A career chronology


Search Strategies Used

Google – Venezuela coup opus dei
Google – Venezuela chavez opus dei
Dogpile – Venezuela coup opus dei
Alltheweb.com – Venezuela opus dei
Google – Opus dei watch
CNN – Venezuela coup
Yahoo News – Venezuela coup
BBC – Venezuela coup
Washington Post – Venezuela coup

I apologize that I was unable to find the exact request of the information you 
requested.  I hope the information I have provided will be of interest to you.