Mr. Baker urged President Perez to use his influence to counter such a move.

President Perez has proposed raising the minimum monthly salary by one-third, to $130.

They were accused of planning the assassination of high government officials, including President Pérez.

President Perez inherited a desperate economic crisis.

(President Perez and his Government regularly get disapproval ratings of 75 percent.)

President Pérez was impeached a year later.

President Perez deserves credit for pushing through needed reforms.

But President Perez, in a speech late this afternoon, called the coup "a shameful action conducted by ambitious officers."

"The disturbances were the result of a crisis that can be written in capital letters - the foreign debt," President Perez said Friday.

Security forces loyal to President Perez shot down the helicopter, killing four policemen aboard.