VENEZUELA: THOUSANDS OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS TAKE TO STREETS TO COUNTER DEMONSTRATIONS AND A STRIKE BY OPPOSITION GROUPS

Record ID: 645748

  • Title: VENEZUELA: THOUSANDS OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS TAKE TO STREETS TO COUNTER DEMONSTRATIONS AND A STRIKE BY OPPOSITION GROUPS
  • Date: 9th December 2002
  • Summary: (U1) CARACAS, VENEZUELA (DECEMBER 07, 2002) (REUTERS) SLV GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS RALLY, PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ ARRIVING; SLV CROWDS GATHERED IN SUPPORT OF CHAVEZ (2 SHOTS) SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) CHAVEZ SAYING "The time has come to fight the big oil battle in Venezuela, well, I welcome it so we can prove ourselves yet again and we will defend our country, we will defend our revolution, we will defend our oil production and we will defend our lives." SLV CROWDS CHEERING AND WAVING SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) CHAVEZ SAYING "And to those who intend to try to carry out a coup again thinking they will catch me by surprise like before, they are making a mistake because I am ready to respond where ever I have to." SLV/MV ANTI-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATION ON OTHER SIDE OF CITY MV DISSIDENT MILITARY OFFICERS STANDING BEFORE ALTAR FOR VICTIMS OF SHOOTING SLV ANTI-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATORS BANGING ON POTS AND PANS (3 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 24th December 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
  • Country: Venezuela
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5SIJOLHYK6UMAXVEAS2SM3WJW
  • Story Text: Thousands of government supporters have taken to the streets to counter demonstrations and a strike by opposition groups attempting to force embattled President Hugo Chavez to hold a referendum on his rule.
    The strike has affected production and exportation in Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter, and has turned violent after an allegedly lone gunman opened fire on an opposition group in a Caracas square, killing three people and injuring dozens more.
    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, fighting back against an opposition strike that has choked off vital oil exports, announced on Saturday (December 7, 2002) shake-up in the state oil firm PDVSA, firing striking tanker captains and replacing executives.
    Condemning what he called the "coup-plotting, bloodthirsty, irrational" opposition, Chavez told cheering supporters he would not allow PDVSA operations to be halted by the six-day-old strike in the world's fifth-biggest oil exporter.
    His opponents launched the strike on Monday as part of a drive to pressure the leftist leader, who survived a coup in April, to hold an early referendum on his rule.
    The strikers, backed by Venezuela's upper and middle classes, call Chavez a dictator and accuse him of trying to impose Cuban-style communism. Chavez says the constitution rules out a referendum before August.
    Chavez dismissed the strike as a failure and rejected opposition charges he was to blame for the fatal shootings of three anti-government protesters on Friday. The shootings in Caracas, which also injured 21, enraged opposition supporters who held a silent march to mourn the victims on Saturday.
    Addressing a huge crowd outside the presidential palace, Chavez dismissed his foes as "saboteurs and conspirators" and accused them of trying to overthrow him by destroying the vital oil industry, which he called the "life of the nation."
    "The time has come to fight the big oil battle in Venezuela," Chavez said. Supporters chanted "Chavez, Chavez,"
    and "Get tough, get tough."
    He said striking oil tanker captains and PDVSA staff, whose walkout had disrupted oil-well production, tanker loadings and refinery operations, were being replaced.
    Chavez added the PDVSA board of directors, many of whom had offered their resignations, would be restructured. He also ordered the military to step up protection of oil sites.
    His no-surrender speech indicated he would confront head-on, with force if necessary, his opponents' latest offensive in their year-old campaign to force him from power.
    He called on his supporters across the country to take to the streets to defend the crackdown on the state oil company.
    Hours earlier, enforcing the crackdown orders, troops swarmed aboard one of several state-owned oil tankers whose captains joined the opposition shutdown, triggering a port bottleneck. Chavez said the rebel captains could be jailed.
    Dissident PDVSA executives said the country had been forced to cut back 50 percent of its oil production because of the strike. They said the rest would be shut down in three days.
    Acknowledging the damage to the economy, Chavez described the situation in the state oil company as critical.
    After Friday's shootings, dissident military officers called on the armed forces to rise up against the president.
    It was a series of fatal shootings in April, also following a general strike hitting oil exports, that triggered a short-lived military coup against Chavez by rebel officers.
    He was later restored by loyal troops and supporters.
    In east Caracas, thousands of opposition supporters mourning the shooting victims marched in silence to demand Chavez quit. "Chavez, coward and killer" and "Chavez, out now," read some of the banners they carried with national flags. Following the silent march, anti-government demonstrators began banging on pot and pans in what has become a symbolic protest, demanding a change of government.
    As the strike hit the petroleum sector, world oil markets shuddered this week at Venezuela's sudden oil drought.
    Oil provides 80 percent of exports and 50 percent of government revenues in a country already in steep recession.
    Authorities said investigators would find the killer or killers involved in Friday's shootings. Seven people were being held, including a Portuguese national, who officials said confessed to opening fire with a handgun.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register