Posted on 11/20/2001 12:55:57 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez condemned as political intrigue a nationwide strike called by business chiefs, and said on Tuesday his leftist revolution would not be blackmailed.
Venezuela's most powerful business group, Fedecamaras, announced on Monday it would ask its members to stage a 12-hour business shutdown on Dec. 10 to protest the government's failure to consult with the private sector on 49 key economic laws.
Fedecamaras President Pedro Carmona had singled out legislation to regulate the petroleum sector and land ownership as statist and interventionist, and said it would scare away investors from the world's No. 4 oil exporter.
But Chavez said on Tuesday that Fedecamaras represented only wealthy business elites and insisted the laws would benefit the poor majority of the 24 million Venezuelans.
``This has a strong political component,'' Chavez said of the strike, adding that Fedecamaras was allied with unions run by opposition party Democratic Action.
A former paratrooper who rose to fame in a botched 1992 coup, Chavez was elected six years later with a mandate to fight poverty and graft. But his obdurate attacks on traditional parties and rich elites have bitterly divided Venezuela along class lines.
``They are not going to blackmail me, I will not be pushed around by anyone,'' Chavez said. ``I am very clear in my mind about the part I must play in the national history now.''
Fedecamaras, which says it groups some 80 percent of Venezuela's 10 million strong workforce, will put the strike proposal to its general assembly on Nov. 28.
FEDECAMARAS SAYS ``HIGH POLITICS''
Responding to Chavez's criticism, Fedecamaras chief Carmona said the strike call was ``high politics, but not partisan or self-seeking.''
``We do not like the direction of these laws which will harm economic development, employment, wealth creation, business confidence, private investment and which violates the rule of law,'' Carmona told reporters.
The veteran businessman said there was widespread support for the planned stoppage. ``Everything indicates it will go ahead unless the government is willing to compromise,'' he said.
Ranchers, farmers and trade groups have already expressed support for the stoppage, mainly to protest plans to limit land ownership and confiscate idle property under the new Land Law.
Chavez defended the land reform law as the only means to avoid civil war in Venezuela, which has one of the most uneven land distributions in the Western Hemisphere.
Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso had told him that a similar land redistribution saved that country from collapsing into social conflict, Chavez said.
The populist president dismissed outcry from Fedecamaras that they had not been consulted on the legislation.
``Of course, their position was taken into account ... but they are trying to defend the indefensible,'' he said. ``They want to defend the interests of a minority, not the country.''
Chavez told businesses they would lose out if they called a strike during the Christmas shopping season, when Venezuelan workers receive their year-end bonuses.
He thinks he's Simon Bolivar.
Fervor Fading Over Venezuela's Chavez--trucking in "supporters" giving marathon speeches--"Chavez is no longer Chavez. Chavez is the people."
Can't remember this ever happening before.
Should be interesting!
The union was the one thing he couldn't lock up and the loser, Chavez's man, is trying to get the vote annuled.
It took three weeks to take the vote. Chavez's supporters were throwing tear gas into polling places.
His supporters also met alarmed parents with bricks when they marched to protest Chavez's take over of the schools.
He's picking things off one by one and there aren't many things left for him to absorb.
He's sucking up to every anti-American country he can locate.
If the people are going to do something, they'd better do something soon.
I don't think he's nuts, I think he's very determined to be the next Castro. He's a slimy, self-serving, power hungry creep but he's clever.
Will the last (productive) person out of Venezuela please turn out the lights!
Me too.
Creeping communism has found a dusted welcome mat at Chavez's door.
Despite his anti-capitalist rhetoric, Chavez is hoping to raise money from foreign and private investors by partially privatizing the telecommunications and energy industries. So far investors have been distrustful of Chavez' contradictory policies, and incoming investment has slowed, with foreign investors reluctant to invest even in oil ventures, let alone non-export industries.
(Shades of Cubans fleeing Castro?) - New Web Site Helps Venezuelans Emigrate --Opponents of left-leaning President Hugo Chavez say his revolutionary rhetoric and public diatribes against wealthy ''oligarchs'' are fomenting class war in Venezuela, convincing many upper- and middle-class professionals to emigrate.
Venezuela Orders US Offices Vacated --U.S. Embassy sources said the move came as a surprise. In a statement, the embassy said ``we regret this decision as it will make it difficult to carry on our long-standing relationship with the Venezuelan government's military.'' The action came on the eve of President Fidel Castro's two-day visit to southwestern Venezuela.
The United States is the biggest importer of Venezuelan oil, and the two countries cooperate closely on counter-narcotics efforts. But President Hugo Chavez vocally challenges what he describes as U.S. political and economy dominance abroad.
OAS to Sign Pact Defending Democracy-- LIMA, Peru (AP) - The general assembly of the Organization of American States gathered in Lima on Monday to approve a document aimed at protecting the region's democracies against assaults by ``disguised dictatorships.''
Snip
The strongest opposition came from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whose failed coup attempt in 1992 and political reforms since his election in 1998 have drawn accusations that he is trying to consolidate near-dictatorial powers in the Fujimori mold.
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