50,000 march in Miami to demand Chavez' ouster

www.sun-sentinel.com By Sandra Hernandez staff writer Posted January 19 2003

Miami · Carrying placards that read "Get Out Chávez" and "No Going Back," thousands of Venezuelans and Cuban nationals transformed Miami's Calle Ocho into Little Caracas on Saturday during a march calling for the ouster of President Hugo Chávez.

The rally was a mirror of the demonstrations that are a near daily event in Venezuela since opposition leaders launched a national strike in December calling for early elections.

And like those rallies, marchers banged pots and pans and waved flags signed by dissident military leaders who turned against the president and now enjoy celebrity status in their homeland.

The event also highlights the push by opposition leaders to draw attention to the crisis. At least three prominent labor and political leaders traveled from Caracas to speak to the crowd, estimated at 50,000.

"We want to tell the Venezuelan people they are not alone," said Carlos Ortega, the head of the country's largest labor group and one of the forces behind the 47-day-old strike. "Leave us alone, Chávez. We don't want you anymore."

Also speaking to the crowd was former Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledesma, who is now part of opposition coordinators. "I came because I think it's important to help get the message out and to let people know what is going on in Venezuela," he said. "Chávez wants to portray us as conspirators and coup plotters and we aren't."

Both men stressed the ties to Miami's Cuban community and repeated accusations that Chávez is pushing the South American nation of 24 million toward a communist style of government.

The accusation is getting more attention since Venezuelan troops took control of a Coca-Cola bottling plant and several beer plants Friday.

"I hope that being on the doorstep, the U.S. will take notice and realize they will be affected by everything that is happening," said Saritta Brittan, of All for Venezuela, an umbrella group of 25 organizations that helped coordinate the rally along with local Cuban groups.

Marchers dressed in red, yellow and blue shirts -- a tribute to the Venezuelan national flag -- braved the chilly weather and light rain to push for early elections.

"I'm here because I want the world to know that Venezuelans don't support the government of Chávez," said Luis Matos, who has been living in South Miami since Jan. 4. "This rally is unlike those in Venezuela because if you were there, it would have ended with tear gas and maybe even violence. Here, we can demonstrate peacefully."

Officials at the Venezuelan Consulate in Miami called the march an act of free expression.

The march also drew local Hispanic leaders including U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Miami), who accused Chávez of imposing a "totalitarian government." He added, "We must come out in solidarity," but declined to comment on whether the Bush administration should take a stronger role in the crisis. "This isn't about the Bush administration."

Chávez, a former paratrooper who helped lead a failed 1992 coup, was elected in 1998 with an overwhelming majority. But these days his base of support has narrowed while the country's economic and social woes have mushroomed, creating a powerful movement to oust him.

Opponents are pushing for February elections, but Chávez has refused, saying they must wait until August as permitted in the constitution. The two sides are deadlocked on the issue and international efforts, including those by the Organization of American States, have failed to produce any agreements.

Saturday's march also drew some famous faces, including Latin pop singer Jose Luis Rodriguez, known as "El Puma," and four former Venezuelan beauty queens who stood on stage and waved to the crowd. Rodriguez called on the military to "restore order."

Sandra Hernandez can be reached at 954-385-7923 or smhernandez@sun-sentinel.com.