VENEZUELA: PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ VOWS TO END CRIPPLING WEEK-LONG OIL SUPPLY STRIKE/FUNERAL OF VICTIM SHOT AT AN ANTI-CHAVEZ RALLY HELD IN CARACAS

Record ID: 645730

  • Title: VENEZUELA: PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ VOWS TO END CRIPPLING WEEK-LONG OIL SUPPLY STRIKE/FUNERAL OF VICTIM SHOT AT AN ANTI-CHAVEZ RALLY HELD IN CARACAS
  • Date: 8th December 2002
  • Summary: (W6) CARACAS, VENEZUELA (DECEMBER 08, 2002) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TROOPS STANDING GUARD AT FUELLING STATIONS (3 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 23rd December 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
  • Country: Venezuela
  • Topics: General,Economy,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABP82XGZ7JEHHUQXHDVT9WR69H
  • Story Text: Embattled President Hugo Chavez has vowed to end a week-long strike that has choked off vital oil exports and has prompted the government to deploy troops throughout the country to secure fuelling stations as well as taking over rebel oil tankers.
    Thousands of anti-government demonstrators marched through Caracas on Sunday (December 8) dressed in black and carrying signs as mourners laid to rest the youngest of three victims from Friday's (December 6) shooting.
    The youngest of the three victims, a 19 year old girl, was buried on Sunday (December 08).
    Two days after shootings at the anti-Chavez rally, the president was battling to regain control of the oil sector from striking tanker captains and dissident petroleum executives.
    "These coup plotters want to detain the oil industry to generate chaos in the nation and justify any military action or violent action, which has already happened, and disrupt the institution and defeat the government," Chavez said during his weekly television and radio address, "Hello, President!"
    Bitter political feuding between Chavez and his opponents has intensified since the stoppage began to squeeze oil operations in Venezuela, which is the world's No. 5 crude exporter, supplying about 15 percent of United States' oil imports.
    The strike, which started on Monday (December 02), is the latest challenge by the president's foes, who are demanding a referendum and early elections. Riled by his left-wing reforms, they accuse Chavez of autocratic rule, destroying the economy and fuelling class hatred with his fiery populist rhetoric.
    Spearheaded by anti-Chavez executives at the state oil firm PDVSA, the stoppage has jolted oil markets already jittery over supply disruptions in the Middle East should the United States go to war with the Iraq.
    On Sunday (December 08), troops were deployed to various fuelling stations to protect consumers and ensure order.
    Residents in Caracas prepared for the worst on Sunday as well, heading to supermarkets to avoid what could possibly become a catastrophic situation as the strike enters its seventh day.
    "I think that in the next few days, considering the amount of people who have joined the strike, we could have a serious lack of supplies," Caracas resident Anna Gomez said.
    "The main principle is gasoline and we are not going to be able to have a normal supply of gasoline especially in central Caracas."
    A similar strike and protests by rebel PDVSA staff earlier this year seriously disrupted oil exports and led to April's coup when dissident officers briefly ousted Chavez. Since then street clashes and rival protests have kept the deeply divided nation on edge.
    But Chavez, who was elected in 1998 and survived a brief coup in April, has shrugged off opposition pressure.
    He firmly rejected calls for an immediate vote and said he would protect the oil industry from those he accused of trying to destabilize the country.
    Chavez has already started replacing tanker captains and threatened to remove staff at refineries. He warned the PDVSA board of directors would be restructured and has ordered the military to step up protection of oil sites.
    After leading a botched coup six years before his ballot box victory, Chavez says his reforms are needed to help the poor long abandoned by the nation's rich elites. Many poorer voters see his self-styled "revolution" as the key to a better life.
    Police have arrested seven people, including a Portuguese national who was transferred to court on Sunday (December 8) to be questioned.
    Amid growing international concern over Venezuela's political turmoil, Organization of American States Secretary General Cesar Gaviria has struggled to revive the peace talks he brokered to hammer out an electoral solution to the crisis.
    Government and opposition negotiators have resumed talks but they remain far apart over the timing of a vote.
    The opposition is demanding Chavez accept a non-binding referendum and also set a date for presidential elections. But Chavez has refused, saying a binding referendum on his rule can only be held in August 2003 -- halfway through his term.
    Opposition leaders last month handed in more than 2 million signatures demanding an immediate poll on whether the president should resign. The vote would not legally force Chavez from power, but they believe a decisive rejection of his rule would increase pressure for him to step down.
    Electoral authorities have set the referendum for February, but it could still face legal challenges in the supreme court or the national assembly, where pro-government parties hold a slim majority.
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