- Title: VENEZUELA: CHAVEZ CONDEMNS OIL STRIKE AS "STAB" TO COUNTRY'S HEART
- Date: 28th December 2002
- Summary: (W1) CARACAS, VENEZUELA (DECEMBER 27, 2002) (REUTERS) VARIOUS: CHAVEZ SUPPORTERS SIGNING PETITION IN SUPPORT OF STATE OIL COMPANY; SECURITY (7 SHOTS)
- Embargoed: 12th January 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- Country: Venezuela
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAE0JTGZ9QNAZ1HWLK0WZ9Y50YB
- Story Text: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said his government had weathered the worst of a crippling oil industry strike which he condemned as a "stab" to the country's heart.
But Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's prognosis on Friday (December 27) seemed premature in the 26-day-old strike, which has throttled exports and caused gasoline shortages in the world's No. 5 petroleum exporter.
The shutdown has turned into an exhausting battle of endurance between left-winger Chavez and his opponents, who are demanding he resigns and call early elections.
Strike leaders said most of the oil industry was still shut down and motorists across the nation waited in lines at gas pumps for fuel deliveries promised by the government.
Chavez, speaking at a gasoline distribution centre east of Caracas, said troops and loyal oil workers had moved strike-hit tanker ships and were restarting halted production well.
"A group of conspirators that for almost a month wanted to rob the month of December from us, that wanted to take Christmas from us, wanted to stab the heart of their own mother, because they are also Venezuelans and Venezuela is the mother of all, they wanted to stab at the heart of Venezuela,"
said President Hugo Chavez in reference to those who initiated the strike.
The strike, launched by opposition leaders Dec. 2 and backed by thousands of anti-government protesters in the streets, has choked off all but a trickle of oil output and exports, draining the recession-hit economy of its life blood.
The Venezuelan oil drought and worries of a U.S. war on Iraq have pushed oil prices to two-year highs. Venezuela normally supplies more than 13 percent of U.S. oil imports.
As Chavez spoke, followers and foes of the outspoken former paratrooper staged rival street protests in Caracas.
At the Supreme Court, several thousand supporters of the president urged him Friday to crack down against the striking oil industry workers. In other parts of the city, opposition demonstrators took to the streets to support the strike.
Long lines of cars and trucks snaked around gas stations.
Many waiting motorists supported the strike but saw no quick end to the standoff between the government and the opposition.
Chavez, who was elected in 1998, refuses to quit and has vowed to break the strike, which has raised fears of economic collapse in South America's largest oil producer.
Opponents of Chavez say his self-proclaimed "revolution,"
which he presents as a drive to help the poor, is ruining the economy and dragging Venezuela toward Cuban-style communism.
The economy has contracted sharply this year amid rising inflation and unemployment.
Officials say the strike will worsen it and predict a brutal fiscal crunch in early 2003.
Dissident executives from the state oil firm PDVSA, many fired during the strike, were sceptical of government claims gasoline supplies were being restored and refineries restarted.
Chavez, who survived a coup in April, has sent troops to take over oil tankers, oil wells, refineries and ports. But the soldiers have struggled to restart the industry.
The striking PDVSA employees, who include export executives, oil tanker captains, refinery and port operators, have said they will stay out until Chavez leaves office.
Government and opposition negotiators have agreed to crank up the pace of talks, brokered by the Organization of American States, to end the standoff.
The next full meeting with the chief OAS negotiator will be Jan. 2 and negotiators have reported some progress but no agreement on the election issue.
Rejecting early elections, Chavez has told his foes they must wait until after August 2003, when he says the constitution allows for a binding referendum on his rule. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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