Posted on 09/29/2002 3:08:47 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez urged his supporters Saturday to confront an upcoming protest march to demand his resignation.
"We must be ready to defend the revolution. At least 10 million must be ready to take the streets. They won't be able to stop us," said Chavez, speaking to a crowd of several thousand people in Caracas.
Government opponents have announced "The Seizure of Caracas," a massive march scheduled for Oct. 10, to demand that Chavez, elected in 1998, step down.
Chavez asked his supporters - many wearing replicas of his trademark paratrooper's beret - to defy the planned march with pro-government rallies.
Venezuelans opposed to Chavez's continued rule blame him for a wrenching economic recession, rising unemployment and a political crisis that has divided the oil-rich but poor South American country.
Leaders of the 1 million-member Confederation of Venezuelan Workers, the nation's biggest largest labor union, plan to stage a general strike in mid-October, to seek Chavez's resignation.
Fedecamaras, Venezuela's leading association of businesses, plans to join the work stoppage by asking its affiliates to give workers a paid day off.
By staging the Oct. 10 march in the capital and calling the national strike, Chavez' adversaries hope to recreate the conditions that spurred an April coup that left Chavez out of power for two days.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.