Chavez opponents rip up tax forms

Houston Chronicle ^ | January 8, 2003 | AP

[Cincinatus' Wife]

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Tens of thousands of Venezuelans marched on the federal tax agency Tuesday and many ripped up their tax forms, vowing to further deprive President Hugo Chavez of revenue as part of their strike that has already dried up oil income.

In a speech he ordered broadcast on all radio and TV stations, Chavez warned that tax evasion carries up to seven years in prison.

Protesters cheered and blew whistles as they tore up blank tax forms at the doors of the tax agency. They called for individuals and businesses to stop paying income and value-added taxes.

The march was the first opposition protest in the capital since clashes between Chavez foes and followers and security forces left two people dead and 78 injured last week.

Venezuela's largest labor confederation, the biggest business chamber and opposition political parties began the strike Dec. 2 to pressure Chavez into resigning or accepting an early vote on his rule. The president has refused to do either.

The strike has crippled Venezuela's oil industry, which provides half of government income and 80 percent of export revenue.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Members of the opposition of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rip tax payment forms apart during a march to the federal tax agency in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan 7, 2003. Several thousand citizens ripped up tax forms outside the agency as part of a month-old strike intended to force Chavez from office. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Venezuela Strikers in Tax Revolt, Chavez Defiant"We are not going to pay taxes until this government goes," 52-year-old housewife Belkis Soto told Reuters as she took part in the march. Many protesters, who include middle class professionals, housewives and students, waved tax declaration forms, which they ripped up outside the tax offices. The opposition, which has accompanied the strike with almost daily street protests, has called on individuals and firms to stop paying taxes, whether income or sales taxes.

But Chavez, who led a coup attempt in 1992 and was elected president six years later, is refusing to quit. "We are in a situation of economic and political war because that is what the opposition wanted. ... Let's give them war then," he told reporters in west Caracas. Earlier, speaking at a school, he warned his striking opponents their refusal to pay taxes was against the law. "They've tried to break the oil industry ... now they're trying to break the national treasury so there is no money," he said.

Tax authorities say offenders face fines and prison terms ranging from six months to seven years. As a result of the strike, the government is reducing by half its original 2003 growth forecast of 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent. It has said it will announce tough belt-tightening measures to offset the strike losses.

"READY FOR THE WORST"

But Chavez seems determined to fight back. He purged the armed forces of opponents following the short-lived coup against him in April. He is doing the same with the strike-hit state oil giant PDVSA, the motor of the Venezuelan economy. "I'm ready for the worst and on any front, we'll defeat the enemies of the nation," he said. Despite calls from some opponents for the armed forces to topple Chavez, or at least refuse to obey him, Venezuela's army commander told Reuters on Monday the army would not intervene in the crisis and backed a negotiated political solution.

Tensions have been high since clashes on Friday between pro- and anti-Chavez protesters, in which two supporters of the president were shot and killed. The deaths triggered a storm of accusations between the government and its foes. Police in La Guaira, a port just north of Caracas, fired tear gas on Tuesday to keep apart feuding followers and foes of the president. Chavez's opponents say the left-wing policies of his self-proclaimed "revolution," which include a nationalistic oil policy and increased state intervention in the economy, are dragging the country toward ruin and Cuban-style communism. ***

Hugo Chavez - Venezuela

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OPEC may open up spigots to allay strike, war concerns - [Full Text] LONDON -- Hoping to ease fears of a possible oil shortage, OPEC representatives plan an emergency meeting this weekend to discuss boosting the cartel's crude production by up to 2 million barrels a day, or 8.7 percent, an OPEC official said Tuesday. Oil prices, which are about 45 percent higher than they were a year ago, have surged in recent weeks on concerns about deepening turmoil in Venezuela and a possible war against Iraq, two key members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

A hike in production would represent an abrupt reversal in OPEC policy. OPEC's 11 members decided less than a month ago to slash output by up to 1.7 million barrels a day in the hope of preventing a price decline when seasonal demand dips this spring. But oil industry analysts and traders pointed out that any additional oil exported by OPEC would not reach the United States soon. As a result, they said they expected the price of oil in the United States to remain above $30 a barrel. Those high prices, in turn, have pushed up retail prices of gasoline, heating oil and jet fuel.

Ministers of each member country except Algeria have agreed to meet Sunday at the group's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, the official said. Since OPEC's Dec. 12 decision to cut production, worrisome signs of a potential shortage have begun to appear. Oil shipments from Venezuela, normally OPEC's third-largest producer, have dwindled by 80 percent because of a month-old strike aimed at forcing the country's president, Hugo Chavez, from office. A U.S.-led attack on Iraq would halt exports from that country, which has the world's second-biggest crude reserves after Saudi Arabia.

OPEC officials have said the group cannot pump enough additional crude to make up for a simultaneous loss of exports from Venezuela and Iraq, which together have historically exported roughly 4 million barrels a day. OPEC's remaining members have spare production capacity of 3.3 million barrels a day, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, the West's energy watchdog. Saudi Arabia, OPEC's most influential member, has proposed that the group raise output by 1.5 million barrels a day.

Crude prices slipped after news of OPEC's discussions. In New York, the price of light, sweet crude for February delivery tumbled $1.02 to $31.08 a barrel. February contracts of North Sea Brent crude fell 87 cents a barrel to $29.33 in London. February heating oil futures shed 3.91 cents to close at 84.88 cents a gallon, while February gasoline lost 4.02 cents to settle at 84.18 cents a gallon. Natural gas for February delivery gained 19.2 cents to settle at $5.127 per thousand cubic feet. [End]

Bush:U.S. oil reserves locked up tight - Chavez: claims role of "oil commander"

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