Venezuelan Troops Halt Marchers, Chavez Plays Tough
Sun January 12, 2003 06:28 PM ET
By Pascal Fletcher CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan troops fired tear gas on Sunday to drive back tens of thousands of anti-government protesters as President Hugo Chavez ordered a crackdown against a six-week-old opposition strike that is bleeding the economy. As the demonstrators in Caracas fled the clouds of gas, the leftist leader sternly warned opponents he would not let them disrupt schools, banks or food supplies in a strike which has already crippled shipments by the world's No. 5 oil exporter. "They want to break us economically. They are not going to do it. I swear it by God and my mother," Chavez said during his weekly "Hello President" television and radio show. Waving national flags, the opposition protesters marched toward Fuerte Tiuna military headquarters in Caracas as part of their determined campaign to try to force the populist president to resign and call early elections. They found their path blocked by barbed wire barricades, armored vehicles and several hundred National Guard troops and military police, who fired a volley of tear gas canisters. Several people were carried away, apparently overcome by the choking gas. During his broadcast, Chavez signed a decree creating a special government commission to combat a tax rebellion announced by opposition leaders. By urging Venezuelans not to pay taxes of any kind, the strikers hope to cut government revenues already drained by the crippling oil strike. The president, elected in 1998, said the strike was costing the country tens of millions of dollars a day. "We should prepare for difficult times," he said, adding that another government commission was drawing up budget cuts. He condemned his opponents as "fascists and coup mongers" and described them as desperate. "They don't know what to do next," said Chavez, who survived a brief coup in April. He himself attempted a botched coup bid in 1992. Chavez, who has already sacked 2,000 striking state oil employees, repeated threats to send troops to take over private factories and warehouses if they hoarded food supplies. He also threatened to revoke the broadcasting licenses of private TV stations that criticize his rule, describing their hostile programming as "worse than an atomic bomb." 'DECLARATION OF WAR' On Saturday, he warned the government would intervene in banks and schools shut by the strike. "This was a declaration of war. Chavez is not interested in dialogue or reconciliation," glass artist Luz Marina Urrecheaga said on Sunday as she and other protesters harangued troops. The strike has rocked Venezuela's oil-reliant economy and sent its bolivar currency tumbling. It has also jolted oil markets and the oil exporters' cartel OPEC agreed on Sunday to raise production by 1.5 million barrels per day to stave off a spike in prices threatened by the Venezuelan strike. The marchers had headed toward Fuerte Tiuna in a repeat of a Jan. 3 protest that broke up in violence, leaving two Chavez supporters dead and dozens of other people injured. The anti-Chavez demonstrators on Sunday mocked the troops, hanging women's underwear on the barbed wire to insult them. Angry Chavez supporters who turned out to confront the anti-government marchers were kept back by a cordon of troops. As a result of the strike, Venezuelans have experienced unprecedented shortages of gasoline, cooking gas and some food items. Bank workers staged a 48-hour stoppage last week, but will reopen on Monday under restricted service hours. Chavez, who survived a brief coup in April, says he is a champion of the poor and that wealthy and corrupt minority elites are trying to topple him. His foes accuse him of dragging Venezuela toward Cuban-style communism. Chavez on Sunday read out what he said was a Jan 9 letter of support sent by 19 U.S. Congress members recognizing him as the legitimately elected president of Venezuela. "If Abraham Lincoln or George Washington were alive and here today, they would be on our side," he said. Government and opposition remain deadlocked over the timing of elections and the United States, the biggest buyer of Venezuelan oil, is backing efforts to reach a negotiated deal in talks brokered by the Organization of American States. The opposition plans to hold a nonbinding referendum on Chavez's rule on Feb 2. His current terms ends in early 2007. He says a binding referendum on his rule cannot be legally held until August. If he loses, "I'll go," he said on Sunday.
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