in time, I would have had a triumvirate, the power would have been shared – but everything was so quick." When asked if he had been "used by the military", he replied: "There might have been people who used me, you never know what is going on underground", but he insisted that he "acted purely in the higher interests of the country". One Western diplomat told The Miami Herald that during Carmona's brief presidency "everybody was saying what a great guy he was, professional, straight, ethical" but that after his ouster "everyone is pointing fingers at him for being a dope". Carmona himself told the Herald that he would remain a "civic activist" but would leave politics: "I have never been a politician; that is not my world", Carmona said. "As for Venezuela, we will continue the struggle." In addition to Carmona's errors, his coalition partners made several missteps. The first was to refuse to let Chávez leave the country, as he asked, and in return for which he promised, on Thursday, to officially resign. This request was not honored because hard-line members of the coalition wanted to prosecute Chávez for the killings outside Miraflores. It was Chávez's refusal to resign that ultimately split the opposition coalition. Also, the coup-makers were criticized for raiding the homes of some Chávez supporters, including Tarek William Saab, chairman of the congressional Foreign Relations Committee, and Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, Minister of the Interior and Justice. Pro-Chávez protests and restoration Prompted by the spreading news that Chávez had not resigned, Carmona's installation as president generated protests by Bolivarian Circles in support of Chávez that was suppressed by the Metropolitan Police. Baduel contacted the head of the Presidential Guard, which remained loyal to Chávez, and told him "it's now or never". Late in the morning of 13 April the Presidential Guard entered the palace from their barracks via tunnels, and retook the palace. Since Chávez was being held in a secret location, the presidency was assumed for several hours by Vice President Diosdado Cabello until Chávez was reinstated. Media role With the increasing disapproval of Chávez in 2001 and constant confrontations with him, the Venezuelan media, which initially approved and supported Chávez, turned against him, which then accelerated his loss of popularity. The constantly growing interruptions Chávez's government made on television with their cadenas that they saw as "an overt attempt to block the independent news