VENEZUELA: FOUR POEPLE HAVE BEEN SHOT AND WOUNDED DURING ANTI AND PRO PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ DEMONSTRATIONS
Record ID:
649220
VENEZUELA: FOUR POEPLE HAVE BEEN SHOT AND WOUNDED DURING ANTI AND PRO PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ DEMONSTRATIONS
- Title: VENEZUELA: FOUR POEPLE HAVE BEEN SHOT AND WOUNDED DURING ANTI AND PRO PRESIDENT HUGO CHAVEZ DEMONSTRATIONS
- Date: 5th January 2003
- Summary: (W1) CARACAS, VENEZUELA (JANUARY 03, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. SLV STAND-OFF BETWEEN NATIONAL GUARD AND CHAVEZ SUPPORTERS; SLV MILITARY POLICE LAYING ON GROUND AS SHOTS ARE FIRED (4 SHOTS) 0.21 2. SLV POLICE SEARCHING BUILDING AND SUSPECT (3 SHOTS) 0.37 3. SLV CAR BURNING; SLV HEAVILY ARMED PLAIN CLOTHES POLICE 0.49 4. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) UNION LEADER, CARLOS ORTEGA, SAYING: "We will resist until the end, until we achieve our objective of Chavez and his regime leaving. No one will take our dignity, democracy, justice and liberty." 1.08 5. SLV MOTORCYCLISTS DRIVING THROUGH TEAR GAS 1.13 8. MV INJURED PERSON BEING MOVED BY RESCUE WORKERS 1.18 9. SLV NATIONAL GUARDS DUCKING FROM BULLETS; SLV METROPOLITAN POLICE OFFICERS FIRING GUNS; SLV PEOPLE RUNNING FROM TEAR GAS (5 SHOTS) 1.44 10. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ORGANISATION OF AMERICAN STATES SECRETARY GENERAL, CESAR GAVIRIA "I want to express my condolences to those people injured today. I hope that soon they can recover from these situations, I am sure, all Venezuelans want to avoid." 2.05 11. SLV OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS BANGING ON POTS AND PANS (5 SHOTS) 2.31 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 20th January 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- Country: Venezuela
- Reuters ID: LVADA5SPM3C9GEO20R7CO4IJS2NT
- Story Text: Four people have been shot and wounded when foes and
supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez clashed in
Caracas as the opposition stepped up street protests in its
drive to force the leftist leader to resign.
Demonstrators and police ran for cover on Friday
(January 3, 2003) after dozens of gunshots rang out near the centre
of the capital, breaking the uneasy Christmas calm that had
settled over the streets during an ongoing 33-day-old
opposition strike against Chavez.
According to fire officials, four people were hit by
gunfire and another person was injured by police shotgun
pellets. But it was unclear who had opened fire. At least 12
other people were wounded by stones or bottles.
National Guard troops fired tear gas and shotgun pellets
to stop a few hundred Chavez supporters from attacking
thousands of opposition marchers. Confused running battles
broke out with troops as both sides hurled bottles and rocks.
Columns of smoke wafted high above apartment blocks in the
southwest part of Caracas as pro-Chavez demonstrators set up
burning barricades near Fuerte Tiuna military base to block
the opposition marchers demanding the government free a
dissident general detained this week.
The opposition strike which started on December 2, has
choked oil shipments and stoked fears of violence in the
world's No. 5 petroleum exporter. Global oil prices have hit
two-year highs due to the strike and a possible U.S. war with
Iraq.
Opposition leaders are locked in a stalemate with the
government as they vow to keep up the strike until Chavez
quits and accepts early elections. They have held daily
marches and urged supporters not to pay taxes to keep up the
pressure.
But the populist president has refused to quit and
promised to defeat the shutdown, which he calls an attempt to
topple him. Chavez said that he would only consider declaring
a state of emergency if the situation required such a measure.
Opponents and supporters of the president have been caught
up in a bitter political conflict for more than a year and
rival rallies and marches have often ended in violent clashes.
Foes of Chavez say he has failed in his electoral promise
to tackle poverty and corruption. Instead, they say, his
self-styled "revolution" has driven Venezuela toward economic
ruin and chaos with its left-wing reforms and mismanagement.
"We will resist until the end, until we achieve our
objective of Chavez and his regime leaving. No one will take
our dignity, democracy, justice, and liberty," said union
leader, Carlos Ortega.
Since his 1998 election, Chavez has portrayed himself as a
champion of the poor in a nation where impoverished slums sit
uneasily alongside rich neighbourhoods. Despite Venezuela's
vast oil wealth, most of its population lives in poverty.
Opposition leaders, who accuse former paratrooper Chavez
of ruling like a dictator, have appealed to the armed forces
to help secure the release of Gen. Carlos Alfonso Martinez,
who was involved in a short-lived April coup against Chavez.
Provoking opposition outrage, the National Guard general
is being held despite a court order for his release. Military
authorities have not announced formal charges against him. But
he and more than 100 other anti-Chavez officers have staged a
peaceful protest in an east Caracas square since late October.
Fears over splits within the armed forces have rattled
Venezuela since April when Chavez was briefly toppled by rebel
generals and admirals. Top military commanders appear to back
the president despite calls for popular resistance.
Nearly five weeks into the strike, the government and
opposition are locked in a struggle for control of the oil
industry. Chavez, who has tried to restart strike-bound state
oil giant PDVSA using troops, loyal workers and retirees.
But strikers have argued it would take at least four
months for operations to resume.
Talks between both sides chaired by the Organisation of
American States and backed by the United States have gone
nowhere. Negotiations continued Friday.
"I want to express my condolences to those people injured
today. I hope that soon they can recover from these
situations, I am sure, all Venezuelans want to avoid," said
OAS Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria.
The opposition wants to hold a non-binding referendum on
Chavez's rule on Feb. 2, hoping to illustrate how far his
popularity has fallen. Chavez said on Friday the referendum
still needed to be ratified by the Supreme Court, but the
opposition said it would go ahead with the poll.
The president has said he will ignore the result. He said
the constitution only allows a referendum on his mandate in
August, halfway through his current term which ends in 2007.
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