VENEZUELA: COUNTRY'S MOST POWERFUL BRANCH OF THE MILITARY LENDS SUPPORT TO PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ IN ONGOING CRISIS
Record ID:
648652
VENEZUELA: COUNTRY'S MOST POWERFUL BRANCH OF THE MILITARY LENDS SUPPORT TO PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ IN ONGOING CRISIS
- Title: VENEZUELA: COUNTRY'S MOST POWERFUL BRANCH OF THE MILITARY LENDS SUPPORT TO PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ IN ONGOING CRISIS
- Date: 18th December 2002
- Summary: (W1) CARACAS, VENEZUELA (DECEMBER 16, 2002) (REUTERS) 1. HAS BOTH ANTI-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATORS AND CHAVEZ SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE POLICE STATION BEING HELD BY TROOPS; SLV SOLDIERS MARCHING OUTSIDE POLICE STATION (7 SHOTS) 0.26 2. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARMY COMMANDER, GENERAL JULIO GARCIA MONTOYA SAYING "Venezuela's army, watcher of resources, strategies, sentiments and values that can guarantee to our compatriots a harmonious future, has its best resources at the ready to prevent this attempt to cause the nation's social and economic collapse." 0.52 3. SCU ANTI-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATORS WITH SIGNS AND FLAGS ONE SIGN READS "CHAVEZ GO HOME TO CUBA" (4 SHOTS) 1.10 4. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNION LEADER CARLOS ORTEGA SAYING "Chavez decided to declare himself the republic's dictator with the announcement that he has given strict orders to the commander of the national guard to not recognize any judicial decision or action by the attorney general's office. A country where the judicial power is not autonomous and should bow down to the executive (power) is not democratic. Listen well, Venezuela and the world, democracy does not exist here as per a decision exclusively made by Chavez." 1.46 5. SCU/MV MEDIA AT NEWS CONFERENCE WITH SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, CESAR GAVIRIA 1.53 6. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES, CESAR GAVIRIA SAYING "This country does not have any other way out of this crisis without an agreement between the opposition and the government. There are no unilateral actions that can guide the country towards a solution to the crisis that the country is living through." 2.05 7. SCU ANTI-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATORS DURING POTS AND PANS PROTEST; SLV ANTI-GOVERNMENT DEMONSTRATORS MARCHING, HOLDING CANDLES (9 SHOTS) 2.40 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 2nd January 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- Country: Venezuela
- Reuters ID: LVA2ZBPVOCA8VOJU453L1UWX9YA0
- Story Text: The Venezuelan army, the country's most powerful
branch of the military, has weighed in on the ongoing crisis,
lending its support to embattled President Hugo Chavez who is
facing mounting pressure for his resignation.
Venezuela's army on Monday (December 16, 2002) threw its
weight behind efforts by President Hugo Chavez to break an
opposition strike, describing the shutdown of the nation's
vital oil industry as an attack against the state.
Venezuelan army commander Gen. Julio Garcia Montoya said
in a statement that the military opposed the crippling strike
and he urged representatives from both sides of the political
divide to settle the crisis in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.
"Venezuela's army has its best resources at the ready
to prevent this attempt to cause the nation's social and
economic collapse," Montoya said at a Caracas military base.
Opposition leaders, who are pressing Chavez to resign and
call immediate elections, have stepped up the two-week
shutdown that has halted refineries, choked oil output to less
than a third and paralysed oil exports, which account for
about half of government revenues.
Chavez was elected in 1998 and survived a military coup in
April. He has ignored calls for an early vote from foes who
accuse him of pushing the nation toward economic ruin and
Cuban-style communism.
The opposition strike, which started Dec. 2, has rattled
oil markets and fuelled tensions in the sharply divided South
America nation. With Venezuela supplying more than 13 percent
of U.S. oil imports, the strike could also complicate
Washington's preparations for a possible war in Iraq.
Oil prices surged on Monday, with U.S. oil futures closing
up more than a dollar at $30.10 on the Venezuelan crisis.
International benchmark Brent crude prices touched the highest
levels since mid-October.
Chavez, who dismisses the strike as an illegal attempt to
topple his government, has sent troops to secure gasoline
supplies and he is importing fuel and food to offset
shortages. Fears of supply cuts have sent Venezuelans rushing
to supermarkets and gasoline stations.
Production at other state industries, such as iron, steel
and aluminium, have also been hurt, threatening to further
undermine a faltering economy. Venezuela's gross domestic
production has contracted more than 6 percent this year.
The international community has urged restraint to prevent
a repeat of the street violence that killed more than 60
people during April's short-lived, chaotic coup. Since loyal
troops restored Chavez to power, violent clashes and protests
have stoked fears of another military uprising.
But Gen. Montoya's comments appeared to indicate that the
army, the most powerful branch of the armed forces, would not
move against Chavez, despite calls from some opposition
sectors for it to intervene.
Anti-government demonstrators took to the streets again on
Monday to block highways and show support for the strike
protest. Riot police fired tear gas and shotgun pellets to
break up protests and to keep rival Chavez supporters and foes
apart in separate parts of the sprawling capital.
Peace talks, brokered by the Organization of American
States, have so far failed to reach an accord on an electoral
solution to the turmoil.
"This country does not have any other way out of this
crisis without an agreement between the opposition and the
government," secretary general of the OAS, Cesar Gaviria said.
"There are no unilateral actions that can guide the country
towards a solution to the crisis that the country is living
through."
Weighing into the crisis, the United States on Friday
urged the president to call early elections. But Chavez says a
binding referendum on his mandate can only constitutionally be
held in August 2003, halfway through his current term.
In what appeared to be a wary qualification, the White
House said on Monday that it supported a referendum rather
than early elections. But the U.S. government did not specify
a date for the poll.
Opposition leaders have called for a non-binding
referendum in February on whether Chavez should resign. The
poll would not force Chavez out of office, but his foes hope
an overwhelming rejection vote could press him into resigning.
Chavez's populist "revolution," which includes cheap
credit and land reform, has won a following among the poor.
But opinion polls show his popularity has fallen sharply since
his landslide election victory four years ago.
In his attempts to break the strike, Chavez has threatened
to bring in foreign oil experts. One tanker left Venezuela on
Monday, but more than 40 oil vessels are still moored off
Venezuela's coast. Strike leaders have dismissed his efforts
to restart the battered oil industry.
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