cabinet, and that security forces under his command had fired upon unarmed protesters. Upon news of Chávez's return, Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor to US President George W. Bush, said, "We do hope that Chávez recognizes that the whole world is watching and that he takes advantage of this opportunity to right his own ship, which has been moving, frankly, in the wrong direction for quite a long time." Bush denied any involvement of the US government in the coup attempt and asked Chávez to "learn a lesson" from it. Cuban president Fidel Castro later confirmed that after the coup his government had "contacted the ambassadors of 21 countries in an attempt to get a plane to Venezuela to rescue Chávez." In Chile, newspapers circulated information soon after the coup attempt showing the Chilean government's "discomfort" with Chávez returning to power, with President Ricardo Lagos holding Chávez accountable for the political crisis in Venezuela. President Lagos later clarified that his statements were to tell Venezuela to avoid polarization and the Chile opposes the "interruption of institutional order". Organizations Don MacKay of the Canadian Foundation of the Americas was troubled by the coup, saying: "This is the first time in a decade the military has stepped into power in Latin America. It is very troubling. ... This will be a test case to see whether the OAS's democracy clause has any teeth." Cuban Foreign Relations Minister Felipe Pérez Roque said that in the eyes of his country Chávez was still president, and Cuba's Communist Party daily, Granma, wrote that Chávez had been "overthrown in a conspiracy by the country's wealthy classes, corrupt politicians and the news media". On 13 April, the editors of The New York Times applauded what they described as Chávez's resignation, calling him a "ruinous demagogue" and cheering the fact that "Venezuelan democracy [was] no longer threatened by a would-be dictator". The Times editors also wrote admiringly of the installation of Carmona as president, describing him as a "respected business leader". Furthermore, the Times congratulated the U.S. government for its wisdom in "never [having] publicly demonized Mr. Chávez, denying him the role of nationalist martyr", and in staying out of the coup, which the Times characterized as "a purely Venezuelan affair". US role and alleged involvement Statements of President Chávez over a potential coup involvement of the United States are varied. Shortly before the coup attempt, Chávez dismissed