But their failure also reflects the changing nature of U.S. involvement in Latin America. When they first called for the strike, opposition coordinators expected that the Bush administration would intervene on their behalf. This assumption was not without reason. Chavez has routinely turned his back on the United States, befriending Fidel Castro, meeting with Iranian and Libyan leaders and -- supported by the poorest elements of Venezuelan society -- enacting populist, anti-business reforms that fly in the face of American economic values. ***
Chavez, a populist former paratrooper locked in a bitter struggle with foes of his self-styled "revolution," said the government planned to subsidize basic food items such as rice, beef and milk that are covered by the new price controls. "We're preparing subsidies. Why? To sell the goods whose prices we are setting even more cheaply, for the poor ... We'll subsidize as much as money allows," Chavez told cheering supporters at a youth rally (in La Victoria).
Thousands of anti-government demonstrators later packed an eastern Caracas avenue for a series of concerts in support of the opposition campaign for elections to oust Chavez, who is resisting their demands he go to the ballot box. ***