Posted on 12/19/2002 11:44:04 AM PST by Dog Gone
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela's Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the restart of operations by the state oil firm PDVSA, which have been crippled by a strike to force President Hugo Chavez to resign.
The supreme court ordered authorities and individuals to obey government instructions to guarantee operations at the state oil giant, which provides about 50 percent of government revenues in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.
"This resolution is telling these people (the strikers) that they have to obey government orders and resolutions aimed at restarting the oil industry," a court spokesman told Reuters.
But it was not immediately clear whether striking oil workers would obey the court. Strike leaders, including dissident PDVSA managers, have said they will stay out until the president resigns. Chavez has refused to step down and has vowed to break the strike.
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Nearly three weeks into a crippling strike aimed at forcing President Hugo Chavez to resign, nervous Venezuelans on Thursday felt the crunch of gasoline and food shortages as the nation's oil production fell further.
Lines of several hundred cars and trucks formed outside some gasoline stations. Others were deserted, posting "No Gas" signs, as incredulous Venezuelans faced the prospect of gasoline shortages in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.
At one Caracas gas station, drivers had slept overnight in their cars to secure a place in line. National Guard troops and police broke up quarrels between motorists as tensions flared over the dwindling gas supplies.
With less than a week to go before Christmas, shoppers packed supermarkets in Caracas to buy up thinning stocks of some basic goods and customers lined the streets outside banks, which are operating only during limited hours.
"People are buying nervously. Some supplies got to us today, but we have no corn flour, wheat flour, soft drinks and other basic products," said one Caracas supermarket chain manager. "If there is no gas this will get critical."
The president has vowed to fight the strike, started on Dec. 2 to demand he step down and call elections.
It has brought the country's oil industry to a virtual halt, spooked world markets and heightened international concern that the sharply divided nation could slide into violence.
Opposition leaders, who include dissident executives from the state oil firm PDVSA, are determined to press on with the shutdown until the populist president quits. But the former paratrooper, who was elected in 1998 and survived a coup in April, has refused to accept an early vote.
Chavez, who claims most Venezuelans back his left-wing reforms to ease poverty, says the constitution only allows a referendum on his mandate in August.
But with even beer supplies drying up in South America's largest consumer of lager and ales, many are preparing for a bleak Christmas. National sports events have been canceled and television channels have been cluttered with constant political news coverage.
"We can't get beers anywhere," said Ernesto Otero, a manager of a Caracas bar. "With no baseball, no drink, no horse-racing, no television and no football... people are going to protest when there is no alcohol, more than when they don't have any oil."
COUP-PLOTTING ELITES
Oil prices hit their highest level in two years on Thursday on deepening supply shock from Venezuela while Washington readied for war against Iraq.
With oil output levels now down to 300,000 barrels per day from 3.1 million bpd in November, the stoppage is costing the country millions of dollars a day, strangling the lifeblood of an economy already in steep recession. Production was reported at 400,000 bpd on Dec. 18. Oil accounts for half of the government's total revenues and 80 percent of its export revenues.
Venezuela has been mired in political conflict since April's coup as the opposition stepped up a campaign of street protests. His foes accuse the fiery, outspoken Venezuelan leader of ruining the economy, stirring class warfare and imposing a communist dictatorship in the oil-rich Andean nation.
The president's foes plan a huge march through the capital on Friday. More than half a million people last week took to the streets to demand that he resign.
Waving flags, placards and banners, a few hundred Chavez supporters marched in central Caracas on Thursday to support the embattled president.
Chavez has accused the opposition, an alliance of business groups, unions and civic associations backed mainly by the middle and upper class, of trying to destroy his self-styled "revolution" in favor the nation's impoverished majority.
"Behind the attempt to stop PDVSA there's nothing but a new coup attempt to topple the legitimate government," Chavez told government sympathizers at a rally late Wednesday.
"Now the time to clean up PDVSA has arrived," he said.
Struggling to restart oil 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.
The government has also authorized the military to commandeer ships, trucks and planes to keep supplies running, a move decried by the opponents as an attack against private property.
The Supreme Court delivered a blow to Chavez on Wednesday, ordering 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, had been an attempt by the government to neutralize an armed force that has been hostile to Chavez and his policies. But Venezuela's army has condemned the strike as sabotage in a move seen as bolstering Chavez's strike-breaking efforts. (Additional reporting by Silene Ramirez, Ana Isabel Martinez)
"We can't get beers anywhere," said Ernesto Otero, a manager of a Caracas bar. "With no baseball, no drink, no horse-racing, no television and no football... people are going to protest when there is no alcohol, more than when they don't have any oil."
No beer?? How will they ever survive the weekend?
Of course.
Venezuelan Mariela Castro, 18, wait in line to register for the first time in order to vote in case of an early presidential election in Caracas, December 19, 2002. Hugo Chavez's government is facing a three week-long national strike held by the opposition to force Chavez to resign. REUTERS/Jorge Silva
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.