or "... directly contributed, or was intended to contribute, to [the coup d'état]." Chávez also claimed, during the coup's immediate aftermath, that the U.S. was still seeking his overthrow. On 6 October 2002, he stated that he had foiled a new coup plot, and on 20 October 2002, he stated that he had barely escaped an assassination attempt while returning from a trip to Europe. During that period, the US Ambassador to Venezuela warned the Chávez administration of two potential assassination plots. After the coup Following his return to office, Chávez quickly took steps to secure support for his government. First, Chávez replaced key generals and held at least five top military leaders including the head of the army. Chávez attempted conciliation by replacing some of his cabinet ministers with people more acceptable to the opposition, reinstating the PDVSA managers whom he had fired in February and removing their replacements, and inviting various international figures and organisations to the country to help mediate between the government and opposition. Chávez also took another measure to reduce the likelihood of a recurrence of the coup attempt: he sought to strengthen support among rank and file soldiers by boosting support programs, employment, and benefits for veterans. He also promulgated new civilian-military development initiatives. Despite these measures, conflict simmered throughout the rest of 2002. On 22 October 14 military officers who had been suspended for participating in the coup, led by General Enrique Medina Gómez, occupied the Francia de Altamira Plaza in a wealthy Eastern Caracas neighbourhood and declared it a "liberated territory". In early November, there was a major clash of government and opposition demonstrators in downtown Caracas; and, in the middle of the month, a shootout which resulted in three deaths occurred in Caracas' Bolivar Plaza between the Metropolitan Police and the National Guard. General strike Fedecámaras and the CTV called for a fourth paro cívico to begin on 2 December 2002. This strike, known as the Venezuelan general strike of 2002–2003, turned out to be the most significant of the four strikes. On 4 December, the opposition called for a day of signature gathering for a recall referendum. The key element of the paro was the stoppage of production at Petróleos de Venezuela, which was effected by management's locking workers out of facilities. According to some sources, it also included changing computer passwords so as to disable equipment. Venezuela had to