Posted on 01/24/2003 1:46:11 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS - In what was dubbed ''the great Caracas takeover,'' hundreds of thousands of people descended on Venezuela's capital Thursday to support President Hugo Chávez in the eighth week of a nationwide strike aimed at ousting him.
The event was also called to mark the 45-year anniversary of the fall of Gen. Marcos Pérez Jiménez, Venezuela's last dictator. The celebration of democracy was intentional: It was meant as a knock against those who believe Chávez, whose leftist policies show an affinity for communism, is a dictator in the making.
''We're out here telling the people that this is a legitimate and democratic government,'' said Pedro Carreño, a pro-Chávez legislator. ``Nothing will overthrow it!''
Masses of people waving flags and chanting ''Ooh, ahh, Chávez no se va'' -- `Oh, Chávez won't go!'' -- filled major highways and boulevards. Government officials asserted that ''millions and millions'' of people attended, most of whom were bused in from the nation's interior.
A block from the march's path, one person was killed by a grenade that exploded three minutes after Chávez passed, police said. Five others were injured.
''There was a very loud explosion,'' bus driver Américo Volcanes said. ``It was like a clap of thunder.''
Despite the death, predictions of mayhem and looting did not materialize. Acting on widespread rumors that government allies planned looting and violence, opposition leader Carlos Ortega had warned the public to stay indoors to ''avoid a massacre.'' Most Caracas residents followed his advice; other than that march path, all other streets were deserted.
While the government tried to paint the rally as a spontaneous offering of support for a beloved leader, the marchers arrived on hundreds of buses from around the nation, apparently financed by the government despite a crippling strike that has sapped the country of gasoline and $4 billion.
''This march shows there is gasoline -- the government has it,'' opposition negotiator Rafael Alfonzo said. ``All Venezuelans paid for this march. It came out of our pockets.''
Asked who paid just how much for Thursday's demonstration, a presidential spokesman said, ''That's impertinent. That's not informing,'' and hung up.
José Vegas, a city administrator from Barranca, insisted that nobody received ''one cent'' from the government. The buses from his city, he said, were paid with ``personal money of the mayor and his friends.''
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez raises his fist to greet supporters upon his arrival to a rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2003. Hundreds of thousands marched through Caracas on Thursday to pledge their loyalty to Chavez and protest a 53-day-old strike intended to unseat him. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
An alliance of business, labor and oil interests declared strike here Dec. 2, believing the work stoppage would bring Chávez to his knees. But while the strike was a tremendous blow to the currency and the state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, Chávez remains in office as gas lines grow and the economy remains at a standstill.
Although polls show the president's approval ratings are low -- 30 percent -- his supporters are zealous believers in his ``Bolivarian revolution.''
Chávez was elected in 1998 on a platform of bringing social justice for the poor. Although he never accomplished much of what he promised, many poor people consider him a savior from a ruling oligarchy. Chávez has painted the political crisis as a class war, deeply polarizing this nation of 24 million people.
Chávez has refused to resign or schedule early elections, which has led to an impasse in peace talks.
Negotiators will meet today in Washington, D.C., with the foreign ministers of a ''Group of Friends'' formed last week to help Venezuela find an end to the crisis. Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as representatives from Mexico, Chile, Spain, Portugal and Brazil are expected to attend.
Geraldo on Fox is down there live- he said that Chavez is even bringing in busses full of Columbians to bolster his apparent support.
While Esher's comment may have been offensive, it was made during a casual conversation to a high-profile writer about his recent column, and shouldn't be the basis for dismissal, Simon said. DeFede, who says the remarks in the column were accurate, said Esher's comments, while offensive, were not unusual in South Florida.***
To me that's the key sentence: Chavez is already accummulating vast personal wealth by seizing the nation's economy. Venezuela is to be Chavez' personal property, like Cuba belongs to Fidel.
The next step will be to seize the press, independent TV, and Internet access, with of course the complete support of American liberals and other traitors.
...and Iraq belongs to Saddam and Zimbabwe belongs to Mugabe, etc, etc.
Bump!
Venezuela's Supreme Court this week rejected on a technicality a move to hold a nonbinding referendum on Feb. 2 on whether Chavez should quit.
Chavez said late Wednesday he welcomed international help but warned against outside intervention in Venezuela's internal affairs. He urged the group - Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and the United States - to recognize that his is an elected government and to not give equal weight to what he calls an "undemocratic" opposition. Opposition leaders contend Chavez's leftist policies have damaged business and scared away foreign investment. They called the strike on Dec. 2 to force him from office. The work stoppage has damaged the oil industry in Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest exporter and a top supplier to the United States.
The strike has affected world oil prices, and cost the government $4 billion in lost revenue. The state news agency Venpres quoted Ali Rodriguez, president of the state owned oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., as saying most blue-collar workers and half of administrators had returned to work. Rodriguez also said crude production has surpassed 1 million barrels per day. Fedepetrol, Venezuela's largest oil workers union, insisted 17,000 of its 20,000 workers remained on strike. Striking executives, meanwhile, said Venezuela had raised oil production to 812,000 barrels per day. Pre-strike production was about 3.2 million barrels per day. ***
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