Posted on 01/06/2003 1:16:09 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada on Monday told its citizens in Venezuela to leave and said it was withdrawing some diplomats from the increasingly violent South American country.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is vowing to punish opposition strikers who have crippled the vital oil industry as part of their bid to force his resignation. Two people were killed over the weekend in street clashes in Caracas.
"Canadians should not travel to Venezuela. Canadians in Venezuela should leave the country," the Canadian foreign ministry said in a travel advisory that referred to the "highly volatile" security situation.
"In light of the deteriorating political and security situation in Venezuela and accompanying severe shortages of goods and services, the Government of Canada has authorized the departure of all dependents of Canadian government personnel and nonessential Canadian staff members."
Chavez supporters and foes are pledging no letup in their conflict, which has plunged the world's fifth-largest oil exporter into political turmoil and economic chaos.
Striking oil workers of Petroleos de Venezuela, SA (PDVSA) hold their daily meeting in front of anchored oil ship Morichal in Maracaibo Lake in western Venezuela, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2003. The strike has paralyzed oil exports and helped drive international oil prices above $30 a barrel. Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and a top supplier to the United States. (AP Photo/Ana Maria Otero)
Exactly. The country that loves to sunbathe on Cuban beaches. I wonder, what they've heard?
A President Hugo Chavez's supporter holds a picture of him besides Cuban President Fidel Castro, in Caracas, December 16, 2002. Foes of Chavez blocked highways causing traffic chaos as they stepped up a nationwide strike that crippled the oil industry. REUTERS/Jorge Silva
A Venezuelan Army soldier marches in front of President Hugo Chavez, left, after being decorated with the Liberator Order at the fuel distribution plant of Carenero, 93 miles (150 kilometers) east of Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Dec. 27, 2002. Chavez decorated military personnel and oil workers involved in the recovering of the oil tanker Pilin Leon whose crew pledged to the general strike and stranded the vessel in the Maracaibo Lake. At center is Rafael Ramirez, Venezuelan minister of Energy and Mining. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
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CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Thousands of foes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took to the streets again on Monday after the leftist leader threatened to punish striking opponents who have crippled the vital oil industry and who vow to resist a government crackdown.
Waving national flags and chanting "elections now," marchers swamped a big highway in the southwest outskirts of Caracas to demand the populist president heed opposition calls to resign and stage an immediate election.
"We will stay on the streets ... We're going to defeat this government with votes," anti-Chavez union leader Alfredo Ramos told reporters at the rally.
Chavez and his determined opponents are maintaining their bitter conflict, which has lead to a five-week-old strike that has plunged the world's No. 5 oil exporter into political turmoil and economic chaos. Their feuding intensified last week after street clashes and shootings left two people dead and dozens wounded.
"We are on the brink of madness and we need to take a step backwards," Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton told reporters.
Outside the attorney general's office in central Caracas, Chavez sympathizers clamored for an inquiry into the deaths of two government supporters who were shot on Friday in chaotic street battles involving police, troops and rival protesters.
Chavez has blamed the killings on police officers serving one of his fiercest enemies, Caracas metropolitan Mayor Alfredo Pena. But the president's foes, who allege Chavez has armed his followers, accused pro-government militants of opening fire.
Opposition leaders, who say the former paratrooper has wrecked the economy through mismanagement and corruption, have vowed to step up protests to strengthen their strike focused on the oil industry that has strangled the nation's oil output and exports.
In a rambling late-night broadcast on Sunday Chavez appealed for calm, but he lambasted the opposition strikers as "terrorists" and "traitors." He also demanded punishment for rebel managers of the state oil giant PDVSA for what he said was sabotage of oil operations.
The president insisted the strike-hit oil industry was being restored to normal by troops and loyal personnel. But strikers dismiss his claims and say it will take months for the sector to fully recover.
FEARS OF DEADLOCK TURNING VIOLENT
Elected by a landslide victory in 1998, Chavez has presented himself as the savior of the nation's poor by promoting left-leaning reforms. But his foes cast him as a dictator set on establishing Cuba-style communism in Venezuela.
Nine months after Chavez survived a short-lived coup by rebel officers, the nation's deep political splits have intensified and increased fears of fresh violence. More than 60 people died in street clashes during April's coup before loyal troops returned Chavez to power.
Talks brokered by the Organization of American States to break the deadlock were scheduled to restart on Monday after a weekend break. They have made little progress so far.
The State Department on Monday urged both sides to refrain from violence and focus on a negotiated solution to the crisis. Canada on Monday also joined other nations in withdrawing some diplomats and warning its citizens to leave Venezuela because of the "highly volatile" security situation.
Opposition leaders, an alliance of political parties, unions, business leaders and civic groups, are pressing for elections within the next three months. They also plan a nonbinding referendum on Feb. 2, but the government has refused to release financing for it.
Chavez has repeatedly rejected calls for early elections. He says his enemies must wait until August next year -- halfway through his term, which ends in 2007 -- when the constitution allows a binding referendum on his rule.
The Venezuelan oil shutdown has pushed up world oil prices and alarmed the international community, especially the United States, which normally receives more than 13 percent of its oil imports from the South American nation.
Chavez said the oil strike, which has caused gasoline and cooking gas shortages, had cost the country millions of dollars in lost revenue. Without giving details, he said the government was preparing tough economic measures to compensate.
Venezuela's government said it was making progress on Monday in breaking the oil export "blockade" but the strikers have scoffed at efforts to restart the industry using replacement workers and troops in oil installations.
He is unfit to lead.
Why? So they won't see people trying to win their freedom?
That was my first thought too. I expect we're about to see some serious shooting.
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