Posted on 08/24/2003 4:08:16 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez gestures during a rally to show opponents pushing for his ouster that the Venezuelan leader still commands high support among the nation's poor majority in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2003.(AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Salsa music, whistles and drums echoed over a sea of red banners as Chavez sympathizers jammed a Caracas avenue to celebrate the halfway mark of his six-year mandate and reject an opposition bid to unseat him at the ballot box.
"The opposition talks about a referendum, but they don't really want one. It's a trick, because they know if there is one we'll crush them," Chavez roared from a stage.
Officials said one person died and 21 others were injured when surging crowds collapsed a security fence at the rally.
More than a year of bitter political conflict has sharply divided Venezuela over Chavez's populist rule and left the economy of the world's No. 5 oil exporter in tatters.
After failing to topple Chavez with a recent two-month oil strike, Venezuela's opposition alliance on Wednesday handed in more than 3 million signatures demanding a vote on the president's ouster. The government has challenged their validity.
Venezuela's constitution allows for such a referendum halfway through a president's term. Chavez, who was first elected in 1998, re-elected in 2000 and survived a coup last year, reached that point on Aug. 19.
But the possible vote faces a host of legal hurdles and the opposition fears Chavez will block it. Venezuela's Supreme Court is set to name a new National Electoral Council next week which will decide whether the opposition signatures are valid.
A former paratrooper who led a failed coup six years before his election victory, Chavez has promised to reverse years of corruption and neglect with land reform, housing and cheap credits for the poor.
Recent polls show his popularity has slipped to around 30 percent as the country's crisis has deepened. But for Jose Reyes, taking part in Saturday's government rally, Chavez still represents a chance for change.
"This government works for the benefit of the people. No one had done that before," said Reyes, who received government financial aid for his small shower manufacturing business.
Still, Venezuela is mired in its worst recession in years, unemployment and inflation are in double digits and a fourth of the country's 23 million people live in extreme poverty.
Chavez says he is battling opposition leaders and business elites plotting to overthrow him and scuttle his social reforms. But his foes blame him for the economic decay and brand him a dictator bent on shaping Venezuela into a Cuban-style communist state.
A woman carries a bag filled with rice, powdered milk, beans, oil, sugar, and cornmeal sold at a discounted price of 10,000 bolivars (US$6), delivered in a government truck decorated with an image of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the words 'A plan to fight against inflated prices, a decision of President Hugo Chavez' in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, Thurs. Aug. 21, 2003. Chavez's personable style have persuaded millions that he is their only hope, even as Venezuela plunges deeper into misery. (APPhoto/Leslie Mazoch)
And he doesn't mean at the ballot box.
It's like deja vu all over again.
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