Chavez: "I feel so loved that I am never going to leave."

CARACAS, Venezuela - Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets demanding the resignation of President Hugo Chavez on Sunday, the 28th day of a nationwide strike that has virtually halted oil exports and evaporated domestic gasoline supplies.

Protesters chanting "Elections now!" and "Chavez out!" converged on an avenue in the capital, Caracas, known as "La Victoria," or victory. Politicians, businessmen and labor leaders listed their arguments of why Chavez should quit in a scene that has played many times during the strike - without success.

Chavez refuses to step down and insists the government is regaining control of the state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., where most managers are on strike. He says he will use the protest to downsize the mammoth corporation and has already replaced many strikers.

"I feel so loved that I am never going to leave," Chavez said during his weekly television show. "It's a treacherous oligarchy that wants to break the government and break the Venezuelan people."

The strike has slashed oil exports, forcing the world's fifth-largest oil supplier to barter with other countries for food and fuel.

Chavez said during his show that two gasoline shipments were coming from Venezuela's La Isla refinery on Curacao island carrying 400,000 barrels of gasoline. Another 400,000 barrels were expected from Trinidad soon.

Venezuela received its first foreign shipments of gasoline Saturday when a Brazilian tanker delivered 525,000 barrels of gasoline, roughly a day's demand.

Ali Rodriguez, president of PDVSA, said Venezuela currently is producing between 600,000 and 700,000 barrels a day. Striking PDVSA executives deny the company is pumping that much oil, saying it is producing less than 200,000 barrels a day.

At the Caracas rally, his foes threatened more civil disobedience, including not paying taxes. The head of the Caracas fire department, Rodolfo Briceno, said the crowd numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

Many protesters wanted to march on the presidential palace, but the last time that happened, 19 people were killed in a clash between Chavez foes and followers. The April 11 violence provoked a coup that ousted Chavez for two days.

Tens of thousands of opponents of President Hugo Chavez wave national flags and poster with a picture of the Cuban President Fidel Castro signs 'Fidel, Venezuela is ours' in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec 29, 2002. Opponents marched Sunday to demand Chavez resign and to mark the 28th day of a nationwide strike that has virtually halted oil exports and evaporated domestic gasoline supplies.(AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Venezuela's largest labor confederation and business chamber called the strike Dec. 2 to demand Chavez accept a nonbinding referendum on his rule. Many in the opposition now demand early elections - which constitutionally can occur only if Chavez resigns.

Chavez repeatedly has said the only constitutional means of removing him from office is a binding plebiscite halfway through his term, or August. He was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000, and his term ends in 2007.

Opponents accuse Chavez of running roughshod over democratic institutions and wrecking the economy with leftist policies. Venezuela's economy shrank 6 percent during the first nine months of 2002. Inflation has reached 30 percent, and unemployment 17 percent.

The guy suffers from megalomania.

This Christmas, it's politics vs. presents in Venezuela Caracans rethink what's important as a three-week-old strike makes holiday gifts hard to come by. - By Kris Axtman Christian Science Monitor - [Full Text] Enrique Aular's daughter did what she does every Christmas: She wrote a letter to Santa explaining that she had been a good girl and included her wish list.

Instead of rushing out to buy all the gifts on the list, Mr. Aular and his wife had to tell to their daughter that things would be different this year.

It's not the money. They can afford more gifts. But most of Venezuela is observing a strike aimed at ousting President Hugo Chávez. For the protesters - particularly those with young children - Christmas this year puts their political goals in direct conflict with their family traditions. Do you shop at the few places that are still open, or shun them altogether and risk dashing your children's hopes in order to keep up the political pressure?

The Aulars are sticking to their political principles. Well, mostly. "We are getting her a few things, but nothing for ourselves or for our family," says the young dad at Oritoys in the Las Mercedes area of Caracas. "It doesn't bother us. This strike has helped us understand the real meaning of Christmas."

Around the country, most parents have been doing their fair share of explaining: Santa's not on strike, he just had production problems at the North Pole - or something along those lines.

The reality is that most shops have been closed down for three weeks. Some stores are trying to help desperate parents. Oritoys has been observing the strike during the week, but opening on weekends. Employee David Afonso estimates that Oritoys has lost half of its usual sales at this time of year.

Finding evidence of holiday cheer is hard. Instead of twinkling lights, homes in Caracas are decorated with the yellow, blue, and red Venezuelan flags. A few decorations hang limply from light poles, and Christmas trees have no gifts to guard.

"No one is in the mood to celebrate," says Maria Isabel Reveron. "Once Chávez is gone, then we will feel like celebrating." Her family usually gets together on Christmas for dinner and gifts. But not this year, she says, citing the gas shortage and fear of violence. "I don't mind a sad Christmas, if it means a happy - and free - New Year. Still, we want the children to have a nice Christmas," she says, settling on a sparkling pink and purple bicycle, complete with training wheels, for her granddaughter.

Nearby, at a deserted Christmas-tree lot, shelves are bulging with multicolored glass balls and silver garlands while dozens of Charlie Brown-looking trees slump without purpose. The owner, Virgilio Lusinehe, says he was expecting six more shipments of Canadian trees, but the blockade kept them from reaching port. He says he's glad they didn't make it - no one is buying. "I'm now charging less than what I paid for the trees, just to get rid of them," he says. "Maybe somebody can use them as firewood."

Venezuelans are even having trouble making traditional Christmas hallaca, a tamale-type dish, because most grocery stores are out of corn flour, a staple in the Latin American diet. Milk and other necessities are also becoming scarce.

Some Caracans say the struggle over Christmas has made them realize that the strike needs to end soon.

"We have to get this dictator out, but I don't agree that this strike should go on so long," says América Perez, buying cologne for her teenage son at a bustling street market. She says her family will celebrate Christmas as usual, with family and friends - and gifts.

Amin Contreras and his wife, both Chávez supporters, say they are not going to let the strike spoil their Christmas. In fact, they've had their apartment decorated since mid-November and are buying gifts "to cheer people up."

Loading a tree onto the roof of their tiny Corsica, newlyweds Juan Carlo Osilia and Claudia Taborda say they decided to decorate their apartment at the last minute. She is pro-Chávez and will exchange gifts with her family and close friends (she stocked up while in the United States on their honeymoon). He says he will support the opposition and refuses to buy gifts, even if he could find an open store.

They laugh, saying if they can live together, so can Chávez and his opposition.

Aular says that he and his family will stay home this year, instead of visiting friends and relatives. "The whole neighborhood is going to get together to eat and sing," he says. "It's the first time we will share this holiday with our neighbors. We are all learning to live with less, learning what our real needs are." [End]

The brief mention above about Opposition also "not paying taxes" is a for-real big new tactic there.

What would you say if the head of the IRS came out and urged everyone to stop paying taxes, in protest against the abuses from Washington?

Well, that's pretty much what is happening in Venezuela right now.

We've got a new resister who just left Chavez and joined the opposition who adds a whole new dimension to this struggle. He is the highest tax cop in the country. His role is equivalent, I think, to that of the IRS commissioner here.

His name as Manuel Jesus Carpio Manrique,

...and he has a CV as long as your arm -- his whole life is in tax enforcement. He founded the school that trains tax collectors, and he is the co-founder of "Seniat" (which is Venezuela's version of the IRS).

Today, he is now a Plaza Altamira resister.

And, not only that: HE ALSO JOINED THE TAX REVOLT MOVEMENT. He was on TV last night, urging everyone to stop paying their taxes!

Here is what he is saying:

" - I am one of the founders of Seniat, Venezuela's tax office. But today, I am calling for active and open tax resistance. Not one $ more for Chavez and his crew!"

See more from the top military insiders who have recently left Chavez and are telling all about his plans, such as reported here at FR...

Terror Threat from Venezuela: Al Queda Involved

Chavez bio-weapons lab in Venezuela for Saddam and Castro

...and directly from their web site by clicking this banner below...

-Shane

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