Posted on 02/01/2003 3:14:40 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Venezuela's women armed group Carapaicas talks to media during a press conference in a clandestine location in Caracas, February 1, 2003. The group expressed their support for the six-year presidential period term for Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, while the opposition is planning to collect signatures on Sunday to petition for a constitutional amendment to shorten the president's term in office. REUTERS/Jose Caruci
Foes of Venezuela's Chavez Ease Strike, Seek Vote***Chavez's popularity has slipped sharply since he was first elected in 1998 on promises to combat poverty and corruption. But he still maintains a strong base of support among poorer voters who applaud what they see as his efforts to redistribute the nation's huge oil wealth.
Opposition leaders hope to collect signatures from 15 percent of the electorate to petition for the constitutional reform, a proposal suggested by former U.S. president and Nobel Peace prize winner, Jimmy Carter. "I have no doubt that this year the opposition will be in government," anti-Chavez union leader Cova said. "We will have elections this year." They are also collecting signatures for nine other petitions, including one for an August referendum and one in support of the striking oil workers. ***
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They already collected enough signatures for a referendum. The Chavez's court shot it down.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez greets his supporters upon his arrival to a meeting with national athletes at Teresa Careno theater in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2003. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
In Idled Venezuela, Psychiatrists Work Overtime***The symptoms of the ailing are myriad: panic attacks are up, while sexual encounters are way down, psychiatrists say. Health problems seem to be on the rise, said some doctors, with an increase in hospital visits for everything from heart attacks to unexplained rashes. In serious cases, Venezuelans suffer all manner of phobias, often of public places where violence can erupt.
"There is an attitude of paranoia I have noticed, where people think they are being chased," Dr. Álvaro Requena said. "They feel that waves and waves of people are going to come rob them."
Dr. Requena said that the constant street protests and the growing participation of Venezuelans in politics had helped relieve stress for many people. Yet he and other psychiatrists said even those who suffered nothing serious were still affected.
María Cabrera, a physician, said she noticed that she had trouble concentrating. "If I am at home and doing three or four things, I cannot do something that requires concentration," she said.
Milagros Torres, a lawyer who makes it a point to talk with her sister, a psychologist, to relieve stress, said, "I never took a pill in my life, a tranquilizer, but now I am taking them." ***
If so, that would indicate Chavez doesn't trust his regular people
And the "cool" thing, from Chavez's perspective, is that if one or more of them get killed in the line of duty, he can have them stuffed into housedresses. Then he can squeeze out some propaganda points by claiming his opposition is murdering "poor innocent women." Since no one will recognize the women and associate them with him- owing to the masks- the foreign media will be all over the fake story like white on rice.
Inflation is expected to soar to over 30 percent this year from 10 percent in 2001, and unemployment has already edged up to 14.5 percent, from 12.2 percent at the end of 2001. The Treasury is increasingly in arrears with its payments, causing vociferous complaints from local governments and state-run universities, whose unpaid professors have held angry street demonstrations.
On the back of record high oil prices and heavy lending from domestic banks, Chávez has boosted public spending by about 40 percent since he took office three years ago to payfor social programs and government expansion. But with the recent drop in oil exports and a national financial system overloaded with government bonds, his administration has run up a fiscal deficit this year estimated at 8.8 percent of gross domestic product.
To breech the gap, the government announced an emergency fiscal program that will combine higher tax levies, loans, and spending cuts. Officials plan to shave 10 to 12 percent from public spending and seek $3.5 billion in foreign financing, a move that Chávez had vowed since his 1998 election campaign to never make. Minister Nóbrega said he expects to raise about $1 billion from multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and Interamerican Development Bank, and the rest from private banks.***
July 13, 2002 - Venezuela: With Strikes Looming, All Eyes on PDVSA*** Source: Central Bank of VenezuelaCaracas proposed an emergency fiscal adjustment package May 30 that was designed to cut government spending and raise revenues. So far, this package has been a dismal failure. Proposed tax hikes are languishing, and multilateral agencies have refused to lend, forcing Chavez to seek a $5 billion bridge loan from Libya, sources say. Attempts to refinance Venezuela's debt have been equally unsuccessful, primarily because domestic and foreign investors are wary of the risk. Caracas was able to raise only around $4 million, or 10 percent of its goal, in a late-June auction of two-month treasury bills. With $6 billion in debt coming due this year, Caracas can ill-afford another work stoppage, especially if it involves its primary revenue source, PDVSA. Oil exports account for 80 percent of Venezuelan exports and about 35 percent of the gross national product.***
Maybe it's the beard and their politics.
More power to those Venezuelan ladies. Lock and load I say to them. Kick Chavez out of there.
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