Posted on 12/18/2002 12:35:46 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Foes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, emboldened by the momentum of a strike to force him to resign, planned to take their battle to the streets on Wednesday with a campaign of marches, rallies and highway blockades.
With a daily war cry of "Elections Now," anti-government demonstrators have intensified a crippling strike with noisy protests throughout Caracas as they push the president to accept an early vote in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.
"The streets are our weapon along with flags and whistles," said Maria Munez, an unemployed businesswoman who was banging a pot on the street as part of a recent protest. "This is to liberate Venezuela."
Strike leaders, who include dissident executives from the state oil firm PDVSA, called on supporters to block streets, roads and major highways in Caracas on Wednesday and join two marches across the sprawling capital notorious for its heavy traffic snarls.
The leftist president's opponents, a loose coalition of political parties, unions, civic groups and business leaders, are united in their criticism that his left-leaning reforms have driven the country into recession and political turmoil.
The strike, now in its third week, has brought the nation's oil industry to a virtual standstill, rattled world markets and raised fears of violence in the deeply polarized nation -- a major petroleum supplier for the United States.
Chavez, who was elected in 1998 and survived a military coup in April, refuses to accept an early vote. He says the constitution only allows for a binding referendum in August. Polls show his popularity has slipped to about 30 percent, but he says most Venezuelans still support his self-styled revolution to ease poverty.
Toughing out the strike, the combative former paratrooper has sent troops to secure gasoline distribution and brought in replacements to cover striking oil workers.
But strike leaders have dismissed his attempts to restart the battered industry. More than 40 tankers are still anchored off Venezuela's ports and the government has only managed to load a handful of oil vessels in the last fortnight.
OIL JITTERS, INTERNATIONAL CONCERNS
Since April's short-lived coup, during which more than 60 people were killed, frequent protests and violent clashes have fueled fears of political instability. Loyal troops restored Chavez to power shortly after he was ousted.
While some opposition sectors have called for the military to intervene, a statement condemning the strike by the head of Venezuela's army -- the most powerful branch of its armed forces -- appeared to strengthen the president's position. But fears over splits within the military linger.
Opposition members protest behind a police line in Caracas, December 17, 2002. Thousands of protesters marched to demand the ouster of President Hugo Chavez in the 16th day of a strike that has crippled Venezuela's vital oil industry. Photo by Jorge Silva/Reuters
Thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched through Caracas on Tuesday, but a huge security operation with more than 500 national guard troops and police kept them apart from rival Chavez sympathizers.
But political and economic pressure is building. With many businesses shut and banks partially closed, worried Venezuelans have rushed to stock up on food, cash and gasoline. The stoppage, which is costing about $50 million a day, has mauled the nation's already recession-racked economy.
The tough-talking president, who led a botched coup attempt six years before his ballot box success, accuses his foes of trying to oust him by destroying the oil sector.
"There is a massive assault against a constitutional and democratic government," Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton said.
With strike pushing oil prices to two-month highs this week, the Venezuelan crisis has drawn increasing international attention, especially from the United States, which gets more than 13 percent of its oil imports from the Andean nation.
Peace negotiations, brokered by Organization of American States Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria, have so far failed to hammer out on accord on elections to end the political feud.
Gaviria said late Tuesday both sides were maintaining their positions, but government and opposition representatives had agreed to exchange documents with their proposals.
"That doesn't mean that they have reached an agreement," he told reporters in Caracas.
The State Department said the situation as deteriorating rapidly and urged a swift electoral solution, while Britain joined other countries in warning its citizens to avoid traveling to Venezuela.
For a second there, I thought even Reuters had turned on Chavez...
The strike - which marks its 17th day on Wednesday - has reduced Venezuela's oil output from nearly 3 million to 400,000 barrels per day, sending the world price of crude oil above $30 a barrel and depriving Venezuela of $50 million daily in export income.
The strike has cut Venezuela's oil exports to the United States - Venezuelan oil normally accounts for 10 percent of U.S. oil imports.
Chavez has sent soldiers to striking oil facilities to little effect, and Venezuela's 13-tanker shipping fleet lay at anchor, its crews having joined the strike. The strike has also caused gasoline shortages in Venezuela.
While the lifeblood of the nation's economy slowed to a trickle, thousands of Chavez opponents marched toward the tomb of independence hero Simon Bolivar in downtown Caracas.
Tuesday was the 172nd anniversary of the death of Bolivar, who is revered by Chavez. But the leftist president's opponents said they also venerate Bolivar.
Hundreds of Chavez supporters, many wearing red headbands and waving red flags symbolizing Chavez's leftist rule, awaited the opposition demonstrators at the tomb, ready to battle them in the streets as they have in recent days.
"We are defending Chavez," said Heide Carolina Ruiz, an 18-year-old high school student. She said she wasn't concerned that the Chavez supporters outside the tomb were far outnumbered.
"We are only a few but they are afraid of us," Ruiz said, as other women tried to hand out red roses to National Guard troops who stood in formation nearby, ready to keep the rival sides apart.
Amid fears that violence might erupt, march leaders decided to halt the demonstration a couple of blocks from the tomb. Then, 30 demonstrators were chosen to enter the building housing the bronze tomb through a side door and under police guard.
"We are going to keep fighting until our country is free again," retired Marine Lt. Cmdr. Jose Angel Cano pronounced as he laid a red rose on the tomb.
One woman, clutching the Venezuelan flag, wept as the 30 demonstrators sang the national anthem at Bolivar's tomb.
"I am crying because I don't understand the divisions we have among our people," Meyling Suarez, an unemployed television producer, said afterward. "We are all Venezuelans, but we have been shooting at each other."
As the 30 demonstrators were hustled out of the building by their police escort, the pro-Chavez demonstrators realized they were present and shouted insults at them. There was no violence.
The United States expressed strong support Tuesday for an Organization of American States resolution rejecting any attempt at subverting the democratic process in Venezuela. OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria is in Caracas mediating negotiations on possible elections.
Venezuela is teetering on the brink of another paroxysm of bloodshed, like the coup that ousted Chavez for two days last April.
As night fell, spontaneous pro- and anti-demonstrations broke out in Caracas, with National Guard troops and police keeping the antagonists apart. More opposition demonstrations were called for Wednesday.
The opposition - which accuses Chavez of polarizing Venezuelan society and subverting democratic rule - wants the elected president to resign or submit to a referendum on whether he should remain in office. But Venezuela's constitution requires him to accept the results of a possible recall only halfway into his six-year term, or next August. Chavez has defied calls for elections in early 2003.
The president he was dealt a blow Tuesday when officials at the giant Hovensa refinery in the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix announced no gasoline shipments were headed to Venezuela, which has a majority stake in the refinery.
"If the gasoline goes, there will be chaos," Rafael Haddat, a 44-year-old agronomist, said at a filling station.
Two of Venezuela's largest refineries, including one producing gasoline for Venezuela and the United States, are already shut down. Oil executives vowed to keep the pressure on.
"The overall sentiment among workers is: Strike until he leaves," said Gonzalo Feijoo, an adviser for Venezuela's state-owned oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., where top management is in open rebellion.
In the eastern state of Anzoategui, police stopped about 300 pro-Chavez workers heading to the Anaco natural gas plant to force it to open. [End]
"We are only a few but they are afraid of us," Ruiz said, as other women tried to hand out red roses to National Guard troops who stood in formation nearby, ready to keep the rival sides apart.
Opposition lawmakers attacked by supporters of Venezuela's President Chavez CARACAS, Venezuela -- Dozens of supporters of President Hugo Chavez attacked opposition lawmakers trying to leaving Venezuela's legislature following a marathon session late Saturday. Supporters of the president, known as "chavistas," attacked the legislators -- shoving, hitting and in some cases throwing rocks -- after a nine-hour session that ended with a Chavez ally's re-election as president of the National Assembly. Hundreds of police officers and National Guardsmen were deployed to keep the violence from spreading. Several lawmakers and journalists were hurt, but no serious injuries were reported.***
Venezuelan journalists under siege by Chavez: Incendiary attacks stir Chavistas [Excerpt] But Chavez still refuses to let up on his harangues against the press -- in his radio show last Sunday, for instance, the targets were the Spanish and Colombian media -- and he lauds his most radical supporters as true "revolutionaries."
The overheated atmosphere has alarmed international organizations. The Organization of American States in January ordered the government to take precautionary measures to protect journalists after Chavez's followers gathered outside the offices of El Nacional, banging pots and pans and shouting slogans for three hours. Employees were afraid to leave the premises. Officials responded by stationing police at newspaper office entrances.
After receiving numerous complaints, the Inter-American Human Rights Commission last month sent representative Santiago Canton to Venezuela for a report. Canton witnessed the tension firsthand -- raucous Chavistas disrupted his concluding press conference and refused to let him speak, forcing him to abruptly cancel the event.
Press advocates now lump Venezuela in with the region's more notorious journalist danger zones of Colombia, Cuba and Haiti. Warned the Miami-based Inter-American Press Association last week: "There is a deliberate policy by the state to restrict the exercise of freedom of expression and the right to information in Venezuela." Press advocates warn the next step could be bloodshed.
"The fears (we) have been harboring since Chavez started lashing out at the media are materializing," said Marylene Smeets, Americas coordinator of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. "He's created a monster." ***
Chavistas: Venezuelan street toughs: Helping "revolution" or crushing dissent?***CARACAS, Venezuela - From her bed in a Caracas military hospital, the wiry, chain-smoking prisoner vowed to continue a hunger strike and risk becoming the first death in Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's "revolution." "Comandante" Lina Ron, who considers herself a modern version of "Tania," a woman who fought alongside Cuban revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara, says she is a willing martyr for Chavez's cause. She was arrested after leading a violent pro-Chavez counter-protest against demonstrating university students. Thousands follow her lead in Venezuela and they have increasingly quashed dissent, breaking up anti-government protests, intimidating journalists and alarming the president's critics.
……….. Chavez has called Ron a political prisoner. "We salute Lina Ron, a female soldier who deserves the respect of all Venezuelans," he said recently. ***
Venezuelans confront prospect of government losing control over armed supporters *** Several months ago, Chavez hailed Ron as "a female soldier who deserves the respect of all Venezuelans." But now the president says she is going too far. Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel also tried to distance the government from Ron. "Lina Ron has her political rights, which she exercises. But we are not in agreement with her behavior," Rangel said in an interview. "We don't support violence." But many of Chavez's opponents believe the president and his men are using Ron and other violent radicals to attack and intimidate the opposition. "They wash their hands of it and say they have nothing to do with it," Pena spat. ***
Chavistas Still Committed - While Chavez Accumulates Power ***CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Unshaken by the coup that momentarily ousted their leader, President Hugo Chavez's hard-core followers are keeping their faith in his Pan-American, "Bolivarian Revolution" that they say will someday encompass all the Americas.
Hundreds of intimidating "Chavistas" still gather on street corners, shouting quasi-socialist rhetoric and their belief that Chavez ultimately will help forge a united South America - the dream of 19th-century patriot Simon Bolivar.
But the April 12 attempted coup and Chavez's diplomatic spats with neighbors like Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and the United States make exporting the revolution unlikely. Still, its nationalist ideals offer militant Chavez followers an element of racial and class redemption in a country long governed by a largely white elite.
"They (the opposition) don't like Chavez because he's black, he's Indian, and they're white and beautiful," said Hugo Salvador, a 60-year-old advertising employee. He stood amid a jostling crowd of fellow "Bolivarian Circle" members who shouted, "We're the poor, the ones who have always been kicked around."
Founded in 2000, the Bolivarian Circles are billed by the government as grass-roots groups allowing Venezuela's poor a say in local governance. Thousands of circle members descended on the presidential palace to stop an opposition march on April 11. At least 17 died in ensuing gunfire. Circle members are among those being blamed.***
Venezuela - Chavistas attack generals fighting rebellion charges *** CARACAS, Venezuela - Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threw stones Thursday at four military officers accused of rebellion. No injuries were reported. Members of "Bolivarian Circles," neighborhood groups organized by the government, confronted the officers outside the Supreme Court after the officers asked the court to dismiss the charges. Police and National Guardsmen quickly dispersed the protesters. "What Chavez has done is sow hate and created these groups ... to silence those who are brave enough to condemn his actions," said army Gen. Nestor Gonzalez, a supporter of the accused officers. Gonzalez is also being investigated for his actions during an April coup. ***
Hugo Chavez Asks Chavistas to Defy Rally - Defend Venezuelan Revolution*** CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez urged his supporters Saturday to confront an upcoming protest march to demand his resignation. "We must be ready to defend the revolution. At least 10 million must be ready to take the streets. They won't be able to stop us," said Chavez, speaking to a crowd of several thousand people in Caracas. Government opponents have announced "The Seizure of Caracas," a massive march scheduled for Oct. 10, to demand that Chavez, elected in 1998, step down. ***
Members of the Bolivarian Circles say they exist to perform community social services and support the president. But others see a more sinister purpose to the circles, comparing them to Cuban groups that keep watch on their neighbors and report any counterrevolutionary activity. "The Bolivarian Circles are a sort of militia," said Gen. Nestor Gonzalez, who charged that weapons belonging to the armed forces have been diverted to the groups. "They are progressively replacing [the army]."***
Read Chavez's words, look at his deeds and then tell me he is complying with the intent of what it means to be democratically elected to represent the people.
I know a lot of Freepers have a problem with international trade and will go along with any commie bashing the U.S. and trade policies.
Members of the opposition to President Hugo Chavez march to downtown Caracas, Tuesday, Dec 17, 2002. Thousands of flag-waving protesters demanding early elections or Chavez's ouster marched toward the tomb of national hero Simon Bolivar. The National Pantheon is near the presidential palace, where bloody protests eight months ago led to Chavez's brief ouster.(AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan) Chavez modified the constitution under false pretext and yes it is allowable to petition to hold a vote on a non-binding resolution. In fact it is one of Chavez's own well worn political tools. But he's moved beyond that, while denying the people the same use of the law.
Perhaps you will find something here you can find actionable: U.S. Concerned About Hugo Supporters
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