Posted on 01/24/2002 12:33:05 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of opponents and supporters of President Hugo Chavez choked the streets of Caracas in two rival marches Wednesday, as the resurgent opposition showed its strength on the anniversary of Venezuela's modern democracy.
Waving Venezuelan flags and placards reading ``Chavez Resign,'' more than 80,000 people joined the opposition march organized by a broad coalition of political parties, unionists and business leaders to celebrate the ouster of dictator Gen. Marcos Perez Jimenez in a popular uprising on Jan. 23, 1958.
The increasingly united opposition organized what it called the ``Great March for Venezuelan Liberty and Democracy'' amid widespread disillusionment with Chavez's authoritarian style of government, acerbic leftist rhetoric and statist policies.
The peaceful march was by far the biggest street protest since former paratrooper Chavez took power in the world's No. 4 oil exporter three years ago. Since then, Chavez's popularity has halved to around 40 percent.
``We want Chavez out of office. We don't need him, he is crazy,'' growled one marcher, as others carried a coffin reading ''Chavez Is Dead.''
The populist president, who still enjoys a firm bedrock of support among the poor majority of the South American nation's 24 million people, was mobbed by a throng of supporters as he led his own march of more than 10,000 loyalists.
``We have demonstrated once again the Venezuelan people is willing to defend its revolution,'' Chavez, in his trademark red paratroopers beret, boomed from the podium in a live address on all television and radio stations. ``Some say Chavez is weak and he is on his way out. And I am going -- but in 2013!''
OPPOSITION SEEN AS WINNERS
Since he embarked on his ``peaceful revolution'' to redistribute Venezuela's natural wealth and fight corruption, former coup leader Chavez has split one of Latin America's oldest democracies along class lines, with tirades against ''squalid oligarchs'' and promises to carve up wealthy estates.
``The opposition obviously emerged as the winners of today's marches, not only because theirs was bigger,'' said Luis Vicente Leon of pollsters Datanalisis. ``What is surprising is the opposition's ability to attract all ages, sectors and strata of society and political parties.''
Opponents of President Hugo Chavez march through the streets of Caracas, January 23, 2002. Tens of thousands of opponents and supporters of Chavez choked the rain-soaked streets of Caracas in two rival marches as the resurgent opposition tested its strength on the anniversary of the birth of modern Venezuelan democracy. REUTERS/Kimberly White
For Argimiro Alayon, who was only 25 when he participated in the uprising against Perez Jimenez's dictatorship, the demonstration brought back memories: ``We are marching here again today, seeking freedom.''
With previous marches last year ending in street battles between opposition militants and hard-line Chavez supporters, authorities had prepared for violence Wednesday.
Shops closed their doors and thousands of police and National Guard officials lined the shabby streets of downtown Caracas, where the marches were due to pass within four blocks of one another near the National Assembly building.
But the opposition demonstration passed off peacefully, and the marchers drifted away in the early afternoon sunshine shortly after arriving in a central Caracas square.
``In the past there were always deaths at these demonstrations. Now, the government and opposition can both protest in peace,'' said Defense Minister Jose Vicente Rangel, a veteran leftist politician and journalist.
The widely publicized opposition march succeeded in motivating Venezuela's politically apathetic middle class, frightened by the possibility that Chavez wished to remold Venezuela in the image of communist Cuba, led by his friend President Fidel Castro.
``Are you going to the march? I am on my way,'' said one elegantly dressed women on a cell phone in a patisserie in a wealthy suburb of Caracas. In recent days, national newspapers had published a guide on how to go to a political demonstration, including advice on taking sun-block.
Leon of Datanalisis said Chavez's adamant opponents were now likely to try to involve the armed forces. ``The next step will probably be much more violent in order to make the military a little nervous and send the message that this situation cannot continue because the country will fall apart,'' he said.
Economists have blamed rising political tensions for a decline in business investment and a slide in the country's foreign reserves, as worried savers formed lines in some banks to change their savings into dollars.
Don't you just love the "sunblock" remark? Reuters manages to get class and race hatred into two simple lines. AP gives the rich vs poor spin too. But they can't deny, and their tight photo shots won't change the fact, that Venezuelans of all economic, political and racial groups, are coming together to fight Chavez's takeover.
AP story: Rivals Mark Venezuela Anniversary (march for and against Chavez's power grab)
Photos: Hugo Chavez with his fans
Chavez has threatened the Venezuelan press. The local paper has called him a dictator and he's sent his goons in to attack and itimidate them. As usual our LIBERAL media is selectively reporting what this Marxist is up to. It will dribble out but not until, I'm afraid, Chavez has cemented his take-over.
Check out the LINK at Post #6.
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