VENEZUELANS TENSE AS STRIKE LOOMS: Business and labor challenge Chávez

On Sunday, Chávez remained defiant and encouraged supporters to confront the strike with a protest of their own. ``A revolution cannot depend on a single man -- it must depend on a nation,'' Chávez said on the weekly broadcast of his call-in show. ``This stoppage is not against me; it is against the people.''

CARACAS -- Anxiety was widespread in Caracas on Sunday as residents prepared for a nationwide strike today by business and labor groups in what could be the most serious challenge that President Hugo Chávez has faced in his three years in office.

The overwhelming majority of shops were expected to remain shuttered during the 12-hour strike, Venezuela's first combined labor-business protest in more than 40 years. Public transportation service was expected to be limited, and although schools were ordered to remain open, many people said they would stay home with their children.

Analysts said the challenge to Chávez is particularly significant because it comes as his popularity is declining -- both domestically and internationally.

``It's the most vulnerable he's been,'' said Miguel Diaz, director of the South America program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a moderately conservative think tank in Washington. ``I don't think this is his final moment, but it could be the beginning of the end.''

Violence already has erupted in recent days between Chávez supporters and opponents. Police officers in riot gear were expected to be dispersed at key sections throughout the city to prevent outbreaks, officials said.

Hundreds of Chávez supporters were bused in from the countryside Sunday for a day of rallies that stretched into the evening. Thousands are expected to take to the streets today to show their support for the government.

Worried over a declining economy, elite business and labor leaders are angry because of Chávez's efforts to enact dozens of laws covering land reform, fishing and energy reserves, which critics view as left-leaning.

The president insists the laws will bring opportunities to the poor, who represent about 80 percent of a population of 23 million.

On Sunday, Chávez remained defiant and encouraged supporters to confront the strike with a protest of their own.

``A revolution cannot depend on a single man -- it must depend on a nation,'' Chávez said on the weekly broadcast of his call-in show. ``This stoppage is not against me; it is against the people.''

Business and labor leaders have complained for months about the new laws, which they say will discourage investment.

The president's new land reform law requires farmers to conform to a government agricultural plan or risk having their land confiscated. The fishing law mandates that trawlers work at least six miles from the coast to make room for small fishermen. And a hydrocarbons law requires the state-owned oil company to hold a majority stake in all future joint ventures with private companies.

Strike organizers are upset because the laws were passed under special powers held by the president that make it possible to bypass parliamentary debate. They want Chávez to repeal some of the 49 decrees or submit them to debate in Congress.

Chávez's ``Bolivarian Revolution'' will confront not just the umbrella organization of the nation's chambers of commerce, but also the Venezuelan labor federation, which represents 1.3 million public employees.

Even the leading newspapers were not expected to publish for the day. Front-page editorials in El Universal and El Nacional endorsed the strike against ``authoritarianism'' and ``messianic'' leadership.

``This strike is made up of the rich and powerful, those who have everything, against those of us who have nothing,'' said Pedro García, a 49-year-old laborer at a shoe factory. ``It is a battle between tigers and donkeys.''

Chávez, a retired military officer, was elected by 59 percent of the vote in 1998. But his approval ratings have dropped as crime, corruption and unemployment have been rampant. His tenure has also seen damage to the U.S.-Venezuelan relationship.

Already uncomfortable with Chávez's ``anti-imperialist'' rhetoric and warm relationship with Cuban President Fidel Castro, the Bush administration was angered in October when Chavez -- holding the photograph of a dead child during a television address -- criticized the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan.

International objections to Chávez are not limited to the United States. On Sunday, Carlos Fuentes, Mexico's most renowned living writer, published a scathing criticism in the Mexican newspaper Reforma, calling the Venezuelan president a ``comic-opera character'' whose ``head is a garbage dump.''

The last time a Venezuelan president squared off against both labor and business was in 1958, when President Marcos Pérez Jiménez was deposed. Such an outcome for Chávez, though, is too soon to call.

``I don't think he has the full support of the military, but it's a stretch to say there is a coup in the making,'' Diaz said. ``But I do think he's way over his head, and it's finally catching up to him.''

Fidel, Saddam and Hugo --An improbable but growing friendship of three military revolutionaries

(August 11, 2001)-- Venezuela: Communist Cuba's closest strategic ally-- [Excerpt] In a radio and TV broadcast before Castro's arrival, 47-year-old Chavez hailed the Cuban president as the ``leader of noble and just causes in the continent and in the world''.

Chavez' admiration for Castro and Cuba's 42-year-old revolution, and his declared aim to fight poverty with his own ''peaceful, democratic revolution'' has alarmed his political opponents, who accuse him of trying to ``Cubanize'' Venezuela.

The Venezuelan leader denies this but has broadened his foreign policy relations, moving his country away from its past traditional alliance with Washington, which maintains long-running political and economic sanctions against Cuba.

A few days before Castro's arrival, Venezuela asked the U.S. military mission in Caracas to vacate its rent-free offices and seek alternative premises elsewhere, in a move which seemed to signal a cooling of bilateral military ties.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (R) embraces Cuban President Fidel Castro after Castro arrived to La Guaira August 11, 2001. Castro, making his first trip abroad since a recent scare over his health, arrived in Venezuela Saturday to enjoy an early 75th birthday celebration with his friend and ally President Hugo Chavez. Castro, who turns 75 Monday, will spend two days in Venezuela.REUTERS/Emilio Guzman

Jiang Zemin and Hugo Chavez

CHINA'S NEW FRONTIER China finds launches lucrative--[Excerpt]-- There also were accusations -- adamantly denied -- that Loral's chairman influenced a Clinton administration licensing decision with a hefty donation to the Democratic National Committee. License approval eventually was shifted from the Commerce Department to the more restrictive State Department.

The Clinton White House announced in November 2000 that it would resume processing export licenses and extend China's launch privileges through 2001 after Beijing agreed to a missile nonproliferation pact. But the Bush administration says outstanding issues remain in implementing the nonproliferation agreement. New satellite export licenses remain on hold. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., and three other lawmakers urged President Bush in July not to resume licensing under any condition. [End Excerpt]

Newsweek International: Nov 12, 2001 issue: Is Hugo Chavez Insane?-- "He's a psychopath," claims Rafael Marin, secretary-general of the opposition Democratic Action party (AD). "He shifts from states of euphoria to deep depressions." The AD has every reason to dislike the man whose 1992 coup attempt triggered the eventual downfall of an AD presidency. But a psychopath? "Our psychiatrists," Marin insists, "have compared the psychiatric profiles of people like Hitler, Mussolini, Idi Amin and Ecuadorean President Abdala Bucaram," who was ousted in 1997 on ground of mental incompetence. AD believes there is an urgent need to activate Article 233 of Chavez's new Constitution. It provides for a president to be removed on ground of "permanent physical or mental incapacity, certified by a medical board appointed by the Supreme Court, and with the approval of the National Assembly."

FREE OTTO REICH ----[Excerpt] While the eyes of the world focus on the Middle East, the war on terror has its targets in this hemisphere, too. Unfortunately, President Bush's designated envoy to the Americas must fight this country's shadowy enemies with both hands tied behind his back. Otto Reich, Bush's nominee for assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, is being held hostage by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) who refuses to hold a confirmation hearing on Reich's candidacy. Dodd apparently would rather brood over Reich's performance in the Reagan administration than permit him to address these clear-and-present dangers today:

Venezuela. Hugo Chavez, the increasingly erratic president of this key U.S. oil supplier, has declared himself "a Maoist" and befriended pro-terrorist dictators. A Caracas-based, anti-Chavez group called the National Emergency Coalition published a veritable Chavez photo album in the September 25 Washington Times. In one picture, Chavez rides in Saddam Hussein's Mercedes with the Iraqi thug at the wheel. During an August 2000 visit, Chavez called Iraq "a model" for Venezuela.

In another snapshot, Chavez hugs Iranian President Mohammed Khatami and says, "We have sister revolutions with equal struggles and the same destiny." Elsewhere, Chavez embraces Muammar Qaddafi and calls Libya "a model of participatory democracy." Chavez greets Fidel Castro as well and says that Cuba and Venezuela are "swimming together toward the same sea of happiness."

Chavez also appears to be arming Colombia's Marxist FARC rebels. Colombian defense officials say that between January 1998 and July 2000, they captured 470 clandestine FAL rifles stamped with the insignias of Venezuela's military and its arms manufacturers.

Cuba: Castro's worker's paradise seems to be a giant O'Hare Airport for suspected terrorists. As counterterrorism consultant Paul Crespo reported in the Nov. 5 issue of Insight, three Afghans detained in the Grand Caymans shortly after the September 11 attacks allegedly arrived there from Cuba. Two others, allegedly linked financially to al Qaeda, were stopped in Panama bound for Cuba.

…Snip…..

"I need Otto Reich in place," Secretary of State Colin Powell pleaded with senators on October 3. Eight weeks later, Reich's State Department office literally remains empty, its desk unoccupied and bookshelves bare. Even as an overworked career diplomat juggles crucial security and economic matters in Reich's absence, Dodd could care less.

"That nomination's not going anywhere. That's the end of it," Dodd recently snapped. He has hurled at Reich a number of easily refuted ethical charges pertaining to his 1980s service as director of State's Office of Public Diplomacy and as Ambassador to Venezuela. However Dodd will not let his subcommittee hear Reich defend himself. Perhaps Dodd fears looking foolish once Reich demonstrates his innocence. [End Excerpt]

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