Chavez had ordered the military to take over police stations on Nov. 16, seizing power from one of his strongest opponents, Pena, and Pena's police chief, Henry Vivas. Chavez said Pena had failed to resolve a six-week labor dispute and that officers routinely repressed pro-government demonstrations. Opponents labeled the takeover a power grab aimed at weakening Pena. Vivas refused to resign, and many officers in the 9,000-strong department refused to recognize Chavez's hand-picked chief, Gonzalo Sanchez Delgado, a retired sergeant. Chavez is now facing massive protests and a nationwide strike, now in its 17th day, seeking his resignation. Pena and Vivas filed a Nov. 2 lawsuit challenging Sanchez's appointment. They say crime has increased because police patrols have dropped since the military takeover. Vivas ordered many officers to stay in their precincts to avoid clashes with the army and National Guard.
The takeover was a central reason Venezuela's opposition launched a general strike Dec. 2 against Chavez. Strike leaders originally demanded a nonbinding referendum asking Venezuelans if Chavez should resign. They now demand Chavez resign or call early elections. The Supreme Court ordered Sanchez to hand over a police precinct that serves as the police department's communications center. It also ordered a 15-day period in which city and national authorities arrange the transfer of the department from the military to the mayor. "This restores normality," Pena said after the ruling. "This ruling restores the authority of the mayor's office."
There was no immediate reaction from Chavez's government, which once relied on the court as a rubber-stamp for Chavez's policies but has recently ruled against the president on several occasions. Chavez supporters rioted after the court ruled in August the government hadn't presented enough evidence to try four high ranking military officers for rebelling against Chavez in an April coup. [End]
Chávez's foes buoyed by OAS statement***CARACAS - President Hugo Chávez's foes Tuesday celebrated an OAS declaration that gave him no support, urged him to respect the media and opened the door to future actions if the crisis lashing Venezuela worsens.
……….Chávez's ambassador to the 34-member hemispheric body, Jorge Valero, tried to put a positive spin on the statement, noting that it even-handedly called for ''democratic institutionality'' -- no coups, no self-coups. But the declaration did not include Valero's request for an expression of support for the democratically elected Chávez, mentioning his name only once and only as the president of Venezuela. Instead, it urged the government to safeguard the news media, largely anti-Chávez and repeatedly attacked by supporters of the president's leftist ``Bolivarian revolution.'' Chávez and his foes should negotiate a ''constitutional, democratic, pacific and electoral solution'' to the crisis, said the declaration, whose importance was underscored by the 25 hours of debate that preceded it. The statement also raised the prospect of moving the dispute to other OAS forums if it worsens, such as a summit of foreign ministers that would be a possible first step toward a tougher stance.***
"Behind the attempt to stop PDVSA there's nothing but a new coup attempt to topple the legitimate government," the pugnacious Chavez told government sympathizers at a rally that stretched into the early hours of Thursday. "Now the time to clean up PDVSA has arrived." Chavez made his remarks hours after the Supreme Court ordered the government to relinquish its military takeover of the Caracas metropolitan police and return the force to the leadership of anti-Chavez Mayor Alfredo Pena.
Analysts said the military takeover of the Caracas police, which helped trigger the strike, was an attempt by the government to neutralize a state armed force that has been hostile to Chavez and his leftist policies at a time when the president is fighting for his political life. Struggling to restart exports, Chavez has sacked dissident oil executives who were leading the strike and has sent troops to take over idle state-run tankers, refineries and ports. ***