Posted on 09/06/2002 1:12:44 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan National Guard troops fired tear gas at anti-government protesters on Thursday during a march by several thousand of President Hugo Chavez's foes, who demanded the resignation of the left-wing populist leader.
The march in La Guaira, a port city 18 miles north of Caracas on Venezuela's Caribbean coast, was generally peaceful, but the scattered clashes broke out when some protesters tried to break through a police security cordon.
Thursday's demonstration in Vargas state was the latest in a series of recent opposition marches aimed at putting pressure on Chavez. The former paratrooper, who has ruled since 1998 and survived a short-lived coup against him in April, is again facing a rising crescendo of criticism against his rule.
The National Guard stands before the Vargas State governor's mansion, after a protest march against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ended near the home, in La Guaira, Vargas State, about 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2002. The National Guard fired tear gas to stop the march but eventually allowed the march to continue.(AP Photo/Howard Yanes)
Carrying banners reading "A revolution with hunger won't last!" and "Chavez, that's enough bullshit, get out!," the marchers criticized the populist leader for failing to deliver on election promises to reduce poverty and unemployment.
The economy of the world's fifth-largest oil exporter has contracted by about 7 percent in the first half of 2002, partly as a result of the April coup that fueled political tensions and rocked already flagging investor confidence.
Inflation and unemployment are also on the rise. This has been especially felt in Vargas state, where devastating 1999 landslides killed at least 15,000 people and left thousands homeless. Critics have accused the Chavez government of failing to provide promised funds to help the state rebuild.
"It's been three years now and they haven't done anything. There's no work, nothing. We want him (Chavez) to get out now," Yaire Marquez, a 34-year-old La Guaira housewife, said as she marched with the other protesters.
The president's opponents, grouped in a so-called Democratic Coordinator coalition bringing together political parties, anti-Chavez unions, business associations and dissident military officers, have vowed to step up protests against him.
They are currently canvassing support for a possible general strike against his government, which could take place either before the end of the month or later in the year.
"We are going to be out in the streets," Alfredo Ramos, a leader of the anti-Chavez Venezuela Workers' Confederation, the country's biggest trade union, told reporters.
Ramos said the president and his policies were like a "machine producing poor people."
"He's enjoying the little time he has left," he added.
Opponents of Chavez, who has repeatedly refused to step down, accuse him of trying to install in Venezuela a left-wing authoritarian regime modeled on communist Cuba.
They are working on strategies to try to oust him from power using constitutional mechanisms, such as a referendum or appeals for an impeachment through the Supreme Court.
Chavez, who staged a botched coup bid in 1992 before winning election six year later, has accused his opponents of trying to instigate another military rebellion against him.
The Southern Threat *** U.S. Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recently drew attention to the economic risks inherent in Brazil's more than $250 billion dollar international debt and caused great concern in the financial community when he said that "throwing the U.S. taxpayer's money at a political uncertainty in Brazil doesn't seem brilliant to me. . . . The situation there is driven by politics, . . . not . . . by economic conditions." A da Silva presidency would likely mean Brazil's default on its debts, which, combined with the crisis in Argentina, could cause immense economic problems in all of Latin America. But worse than the economic downturn would be the effect on the Brazilian people of a radical regime moving toward dictatorship and the risk of destabilization in the region from a Castro-da Silva-Chavez axis.
A da Silva regime in Brazil could soon be followed by the success of the Communist guerrillas in Colombia and the establishment of anti-American regimes in Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador (where in January 2000 radicals toppled the government in a few days, with help from military officers recruited by Chavez, though their success was short-lived). Thus, by the end of 2003, the United States might be faced with anti-American regimes in most of South America.
If those regimes recruited only one tenth of one percent of military-aged males for terrorist attacks on the United States, this could mean 30,000 terrorists coming from the south. In addition, many Middle Eastern terrorist organizations, including the PLO, have long collaborated with Castro against the United States and its allies; they and the Iranian-backed terrorists of Hezbollah have hidden among the sizable Middle Eastern communities in Brazil and Venezuela.***
Blocking a new axis of evil*** A new terrorist and nuclear weapons/ballistic missile threat may well come from an axis including Cuba's Fidel Castro, the Chavez regime in Venezuela and a newly elected radical president of Brazil, all with links to Iraq, Iran and China. Visiting Iran last year. Mr. Castro said: "Iran and Cuba can bring America to its knees," while Chavez expressed his admiration for Saddam Hussein during a visit to Iraq.
The new axis is still preventable, but if the pro-Castro candidate is elected president of Brazil, the results could include a radical regime in Brazil re-establishing its nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs, developing close links to state sponsors of terrorism such as Cuba, Iraq and Iran, and participating in the destabilization of fragile neighboring democracies. This could lead to 300 million people in six countries coming under the control of radical anti-U.S. regimes and the possibility that thousands of newly indoctrinated terrorists might try to attack the United States from Latin America. Yet, the administration in Washington seems to be paying little attention.***
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