Chavez Followers, Foes Fight on Venezuelan Streets

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Supporters and opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez clashed on Wednesday, fighting running street battles in a western city and skirmishing with fists, sticks and stones outside the presidential palace in Caracas.

Several people were hurt in the disturbances, which reflect growing political tensions in the world's fourth largest oil exporter, where left-wing populist Chavez is facing growing opposition to his three-year-old rule.

Fierce fighting broke out in Barquisimeto, 218 miles (351 km) west of Caracas, when followers of the outspoken president confronted members of Venezuela's Workers Confederation, or CTV, the country's largest trade union, which has spearheaded labor opposition to Chavez.

Later in Caracas, a group of protesting university students demanding more government funding clashed with pro-Chavez militants who habitually surround the Miraflores Palace.

"There was a scrap, with sticks and stones and punches, and there were injuries," Metropolitan Police Operations Chief Emigdio Delgado told reporters.

Police said at least four people were hurt in the Caracas fighting, while the number of injured in Barquisimeto was believed to be higher.

Further west, in the Andean city of Valera, National Guard troops patrolled the streets on Wednesday after striking local police failed to stop rioting youths from looting banks, shops and offices Tuesday.

In the commercial hub of Barquisimeto, members of the rival groups traded blows and pelted each other with stones, bottles and sticks as they milled in the street, scattering pedestrians and disrupting traffic.

Shop-keepers halted business, hurriedly pulling down metal store-front screens until police and National Guard soldiers arrived on the scene to restore order.

Chavez supporters in Barquisimeto, chanting "They will not pass" had gathered to confront a march by CTV members, whose leader Carlos Ortega is threatening to call a general strike to protest Chavez's policies.

Clashes between supporters and followers of the president have increased in recent months in Venezuela, Latin America's fourth largest economy, as opposition groups have stepped up street protests against the tough-talking former paratrooper.

In a speech in eastern Venezuela on Wednesday, Chavez scoffed at his opponents, calling them "poor things" and saying they viewed him as a "devil ... steeped in sulfur."

"Getting rid of Chavez is more difficult than trying to knock down a mule by pinching it," the president said during a ceremony to formally inaugurate a foreign-financed heavy crude oil upgrading project.

Chavez, who won a 1998 election six years after failing to seize power in a botched military coup, has frequently called on his supporters to defend his revolution "in the streets."

The president, who later flew to an international development conference in Monterrey, Mexico, said no other government in Venezuela "in a 100 years" had the "popular and military support" that his administration had.

But opinion polls show his popularity has fallen sharply in recent months as he faces a barrage of criticism, including calls to resign from dissident military officers.

Business and some labor leaders are bitterly opposing reforms introduced by Chavez, including a law to give land to the poor and assertion of state control over the oil sector.

Tuesday's disturbances in Valera, 340 miles (550 km) west of Caracas, broke out when several thousand students protested downtown to demand the resignation of the administration of a local technical college, Mayor Ali Quintero told Reuters.

Municipal police, who are striking for higher wages, did not intervene and city authorities called in the National Guard, part of Venezuela's armed forces.

The student protesters, joined by youths from poor neighborhoods, broke into two banks, carrying off furniture, computers and automated teller machines.

Shops and offices were also sacked in Valera, a city of 200,000 in the Venezuelan Andes.

"The National Guard has taken over patrolling to avoid any other outbreak (of violence) in the streets of Valera," Quintero said. He added that the city was quiet Wednesday and businesses and shops were operating normally.

Bush to Be Tough on U.S. Aid During LatAm Trip-[Excerpt] During his talks with world leaders at the conference, Bush will promote his initiative to help poor nations that respect human rights, root out corruption, open their markets, and have education and health care systems.

"I'm going to be tough about it," Bush told a group of regional reporters Tuesday in a preview of his trip. "I'm not interested in funding corruption."

Bush separately had some tough talk about Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez. The image of the world's No. 4 oil exporter has taken a beating in recent months as opponents of the maverick left-wing president have stepped up protests against his three-year rule, raising fears that political confrontation may worsen and even turn to violence.

"We are concerned about Venezuela," Bush said, citing the long-term U.S. relationship with the country, particularly in the oil business.

"We are concerned any time there is unrest in our neighborhood. We are watching the situation carefully. This man was elected by the people. We respect democracy in our country, and we hope he respects the democratic institutions within his country," the president said. [End Excerpt]

Venezuela: Labor Strife of a Different Collar - Pdvsa--[Excerpt] CARACAS, Venezuela, March 18 - Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. may be state owned, but it is known internationally as efficient and well managed, even cutting edge. The company, one of the world's largest oil producers, has also long attracted the brightest minds in Venezuela to its singular task: producing the huge amounts of oil that motor this country.

Now, however, the behemoth, with $20 billion a year in oil sales and 40,000 employees, is in turmoil.

Its white-collar workers are locked in a bitter feud with the government of President Hugo Chávez, whose firing of the company president last month precipitated a rousing, public quarrel that has dominated the local headlines, caused a work slowdown and threatens to spill into a full- fledged strike. Such an event would be calamitous for a country where oil accounts for 80 percent of exports, most of it bound for the United States.

"This is a tragedy," said Luis Giusti, a former company president and now senior adviser for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "It is inconceivable that in this company people would go out and protest. They would have been fired right away. But this is a crisis situation." [End Excerpt]

Cuba's Castro Says Venezuelan Chavez Speaks for Him--[Excerpt] The United Nations meeting will bring together some 50 heads of state, including President Bush and representatives from 100 other countries, who will seek ways to boost rich nations' funding of programs to help the poor.

Chavez, a 47-year-old former paratrooper who has strengthened oil-rich Venezuela's ties with Communist Cuba, has often praised Castro's socialist revolution and expressed similar anti-capitalist and "anti-imperialist" views.

Hailing the Venezuelan leader's "spirit and enthusiasm", the veteran Cuban president said Chavez would address the U.N. conference in Mexico as president of the Group of 77, which represents more than 130 developing countries.

"No other voice could be better than yours to defend the interests of the (Group of) 77. ... You will have the possibility of putting forward the point of view of the progressive people of the world," Castro added.[End Excerpt]

Chavez's government says it wants better ties with United States - By FABIOLA SANCHEZ, AP

[Full Text] CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela wants "the best relations" with other countries, in an apparent response to criticism leveled by U.S. President George W. Bush.

Venezuela is "a country that respects (others) and asks respect, a government that is a friend of all, that wants to have the best relations with the world in a sovereign and independent way," Chavez said Wednesday.

Chavez irked Washington when he questioned the war in Afghanistan and, separately, visited Iraq, Libya and Cuba.

On the eve of his trip to Latin America, Bush told Latin American journalists in Washington that he hoped Chavez would continue to respect democracy.

The populist Chavez is slipping in public opinion polls because of the nation's foundering economy and his combative stance against the Roman Catholic Church, labor unions, the press and business leaders.

"We are concerned anytime there is unrest in our neighborhood," Bush said, adding that Chavez "was elected by the people. We respect democracy in our country, and we hope he respects the democratic institutions in his country."

Chavez tried to stage a coup in 1992 as an army officer, then was elected president in 1998 on an anti-poverty, anti-corruption platform.

Before departing for a U.N. summit on poverty in Mexico, Chavez defended his efforts to improve the plight of the poor. Some 18 million of Venezuela's 24 million people live in poverty, despite the nation's oil riches.

Chavez also said he won't fall victim to a coup. Washington has recently urged dissident military officers to respect Venezuela's Constitution. Chavez's term ends in 2006.

"Overthrowing Chavez is more difficult than killing a donkey by pinching him," the president told the Venpres state news agency. "No one overthrows Chavez."

Vice President Diosdado Cabello said Venezuela wants to improve ties with the United States. "We have, perhaps, failed a little and we see it as a necessity because we have to ... deepen the message we are sending to the United States," he said.

The arrival of a new U.S. ambassador, Charles Shapiro, began a "clarification" process between the two governments, Cabello said. Shapiro presented his credentials to Chavez on Tuesday. [End]

You couldn't be more right. The time bomb is ticking. Look at the LINK in Post #2.

And then there's this:

S&P revises Venezuela ratings outlook to negative--[Excerpt] NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's said on Monday it revised its credit outlook on Venezuela to negative, indicating that a ratings downgrade may be on the way if critical economic reforms are held hostage to the political tension gripping the country.

``The current situation has led to political polarization and a sense of frustration among the population at large, including the business and labor sectors, the Catholic church, and the military,'' S&P said in a statement.

``This, in conjunction with presidential statements about the possibility of nationalizing banks ... and the danger of exchange controls or a state of emergency, have created an environment that is not conducive to investment and growth.''

The ratings agency affirmed Venezuela's single-B long- and short-term foreign currency sovereign credit ratings. At single B, the ratings are five notches below investment grade.

A downgrade would increase the cost of borrowing for the world's No. 4 oil exporter at a time when President Hugo Chavez is facing stiff domestic opposition to his leftist agenda and authoritarian style. [End Excerpt]

Venezuela's Chavez says he'll declare emergency and militarize company if oil workers strike-[Excerpt] CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez is ready to declare a state of emergency if oil-workers at the nation's state-owned oil monopoly try to paralyze production.

Chavez accused opposition labor and political leaders of sowing discontent at Petroleos de Venezuela SA and said he had a contingency plan ready should workers and management go on strike. He didn't elaborate on the plan.

"If they shut down the company, we'll militarize it. I am not going to allow Petroleos de Venezuela to be shut down," Chavez said.

"It won't bother me to continue to fulfill my obligation, to sign an emergency decree. This is a company of high strategic value, and I am ready to order its intervention and throw out those who don't want to be there," he said. [End Excerpt]

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