Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks to the Union of South American Nations' foreign ministers at Miraflores palace in Caracas March 25, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

Venezuelan Congress seeks probe of opposition leader

Venezuela unrest toll rises

CARACAS _ Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has added three generals to the growing list of people and entities he accuses of plotting against him.

Maduro announced Tuesday that his administration had brought three air force generals before a military tribunal on charges of plotting a coup amid the anti-government protests wracking the country.

The announcement came during a meeting of South American foreign ministers aimed at easing the conflict between the government and its increasingly strident opponents.

Recently, Maduro has called the protest movement an "evolving coup d'etat," and accused the United States of waging an "economic war" and supporting those who wish to do violence to Venezuela. The protests sparked by shortages, runaway inflation and rising crime have left dozens dead.

Analysts said the arrests do not necessarily mean Maduro's administration is losing ground with the Venezuelan military, which has historically decided political fortunes at moments of crisis.

The government might be publicizing the purported coup as a way to emphasize the need for unity, said David Smilde, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America.

"When you talk about conspiracies, it's basically a way of rallying the troops. It's a way of saying this is no time for dissent," Smilde said.

The timing also allows the administration to portray to visiting dignitaries that Maduro's opponents are playing dirty.

Maduro has been careful to cultivate loyalty among the armed forces. His government bureaucracy is larded with former officers, and uniformed or retired military occupy a quarter of his Cabinet. He's also given troops a television station and showered them with raises in excess of double-digit inflation.

Smilde suggested the three generals might have been expressing dissent instead of a plotting a full-blown government overthrow, given their small numbers.

"What does Maduro consider a coup? Students in the street is a coup for him," Smilde said.