Reuters
Venezuela government, opposition tussle over strike
By Pascal Fletcher
CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov. 26 — Opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez drummed up support on Tuesday for a general strike against the
leftist leader next week, but the government condemned the planned
stoppage as illegal and said it would flop.
The rhetoric kept political tensions simmering in the world's No. 5
oil exporter, where at least two people were killed and dozens injured
by gunfire this month in several protests and clashes involving
supporters and foes of Chavez.
Tear gas grenades were thrown on the crowded platforms of two central
Caracas subway stations Tuesday, causing panic and a temporary halt to
train services. Dozens of passengers were evacuated but there were no
serious injuries and no one immediately claimed responsibility. Police
were investigating.
Labor and business organizers of the opposition strike called for
Monday, the fourth launched against Chavez in a year, said it was
aimed at pressing the populist leader to quit or to hold an early
referendum on his four-year presidency.
But Chavez, who survived a combined general strike and brief military
coup against him in April, has refused to resign and his government is
campaigning hard to try to head off the upcoming Dec. 2 work stoppage
or at least minimize its impact.
''This strike which has been called is unconstitutional,'' Ronald
Blanco, the pro-Chavez governor of western Tachira state who is also a
government negotiator in ongoing peace talks with the opposition, told
reporters Tuesday.
Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said the government was determined not
to allow the threatened stoppage to affect vital oil exports, the bulk
of which go to the United States.
Former paratrooper Chavez, who was elected in 1998 but faces fierce
opposition to his self-styled leftist ''revolution'' in aid of the
country's poor, blasted on Sunday the planned strike as an ''insurrectional''
attempt to overthrow him. He said it would be ''crushed by the people
and the armed forces.''
Peace talks between Chavez's government and the opposition, brokered
by Organization of American States Secretary General Cesar Gaviria,
are deadlocked over the leader's refusal to agree to an early
referendum on his presidency. Chavez says the constitution only allows
for a binding referendum next August and urges his adversaries to wait
until then.
CHURCH CALLS FOR PEACE
The strike call, which organizers say will probably develop into an
indefinite work stoppage, and the government's hostile response have
raised fears of fresh violence following the April coup, when more
than 60 people died in street clashes.
In a statement Tuesday, Venezuela's Roman Catholic bishops urged both
sides to show tolerance. ''A peaceful, negotiated political solution
is urgently needed,'' they said.
Opposition leaders, who have criticized the president's recent
deployment of hundreds of troops in Caracas, said there was solid
support for the strike action.
''This is a strike which has been called for by the majority of the
people,'' anti-Chavez union boss Alfredo Ramos of the La Causa R
opposition party told reporters.
The bishops criticized the government's military takeover this month
of the Caracas city police, which had previously been run by anti-Chavez
mayor Alfredo Pena. They said this had left city residents at the
mercy of criminals.
Opposition labor and business chiefs organizing Monday's walkout say
they have so far obtained widespread backing for the protest in key
oil, transport and industry sectors.
But this is disputed by Chavez and his ministers.
There was resistance to the strike call from some store owners, who
were reluctant to close during the lucrative Christmas shopping period.
Others said they were willing to make the sacrifice to try to dislodge
Chavez, whose left-wing policies they blame for a slump in the economy
this year.
Of key importance to the economic impact of the strike will be the
strategic petroleum industry, where a dispute in the state oil firm
PDVSA earlier this year badly disrupted crude sales that account for
around 80 percent of export revenues.
Strike organizers say most oil workers back the walkout but Ramirez
ruled out any effect on oil production and shipments.
(Additional reporting by Magdalena Morales)
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