www.forbes.com Reuters, 01.12.03, 4:01 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - A six-week strike by foes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez last week held international oil shipments by Venezuela, the world's No. 5 crude exporter, to about one-fifth of November levels.

Venezuela's oil exports were capped at about 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) for the week ending Jan. 11 compared with about 575,000 bpd in the previous week, according to calculations made by Reuters, based on data from shipping sources and state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).

The OPEC nation exported almost 2.7 million bpd of crude and products before the strike, which began Dec. 2. Chavez opponents, including thousands of PDVSA executives and managers as well as oil field workers, refinery staff, ship captains and dock workers, have joined the stoppage aimed at forcing the left-wing leader to step down.

Chavez has refused to resign and is trying to restructure PDVSA to restore the industry, which provides about one-half of government revenues. Replacement staff have boosted oil output to 800,000 bpd, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Sunday, compared with 3.1 million bpd in November.

Striking PDVSA executives said the government has only been able to raise oil output to 400,000 bpd, from under 200,000 bpd at its lowest point. The dissident oil-firm employees said unqualified replacement workers have damaged installations and caused oil spills.

GOVERNMENT PLEDGES The loss of Venezuelan exports, which normally supply over 13 percent of U.S. oil imports, sent crude prices to two-year highs over $33 a barrel in recent weeks. Oil cartel OPEC held an emergency meeting in Vienna Sunday to increase oil quotas to compensate for the Venezuelan disruption.

"We have an agreement signed by all OPEC members to increase the ceiling by 1.5 (million bpd)," Venezuela's Ramirez told reporters at the OPEC meeting.

"OPEC countries committed themselves to defend and support our market share until such time that we can re-establish oil production levels in mid-February," Ramirez said, adding he expected Venezuela's output to hit 2.5 million bpd by then.

PDVSA President Ali Rodriguez, also attending the OPEC meeting, told reporters the 940,000-bpd Amuay-Cardon refining complex would be restarted and back to normal in two to three weeks. He said oil production would rise to 2 million bpd by the end of January.

Government attempts to restore the industry have met with mixed success. Ramirez said in late December that oil production would be increased to 1.2 million bpd by the second week of January, and that the 130,000 bpd El Palito refinery would be restarted early in the month.

PDVSA's Rodriguez said operations at El Palito would now resume after a seal blew in last week's attempt to restart the refinery.

In addition, the government may have a difficult time increasing exports even if oil output is raised.

Only ships chartered by PDVSA and U.S. refining affiliate Citgo have been loading cargoes for export since the strike started. Foreign lifters, concerned with insurance risks associated with vessels loaded by uncertified staff, have said they will not bring tankers to port until conditions are considered safe by insurance pools.

However, the government has managed to import some gasoline to help ease an acute domestic fuel crisis.

Chavez said on Friday he had fired 1,000 striking PDVSA employees and that he would use the stoppage to get rid of anti-government managers.

Dissident PDVSA leaders have said it would take four months to bring operations back to 90 percent of normal levels, and would only be achieved if all striking workers returned to their jobs.

Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service

onebusiness.nzoom.com

Tens of thousands of Venezuelan anti-government protesters marched on military headquarters in Caracas on Sunday after leftist President Hugo Chavez threatened to take over private banks and schools hit by a six-week-old opposition strike.

Former paratrooper Chavez, who is refusing opposition demands to resign and call early elections, has vowed to take all necessary measures to beat the strike, which has already slashed oil exports by the world's No. 5 petroleum exporter.

Several hundred National Guard and military police in riot gear, formed up behind barbed wire barricades and backed by armoured vehicles, blocked an avenue leading to Fuerte Tiuna military headquarters in the southwest of the city on Sunday.

Blowing whistles and waving national flags, the opposition marchers headed toward the sprawling military complex in a repeat of a Jan. 3 protest that broke up in violence when anti- and pro-government demonstrators, troops and police clashed. On that occasion, two Chavez supporters were shot dead and dozens more people injured.

Six weeks into the gruelling opposition strike, feelings were running high on the opposition side after defiant speeches by Chavez on Saturday in which he blasted his foes as "terrorists" and said his government would not surrender to the strike.

Hardening his stance, Chavez warned his opponents his government would intervene in banks and schools shut by the strike and would sack directors and staff who refused to work.

As his opponents marched on Sunday, the outspoken populist president began his weekly "Hello President" television and radio show by calling his foes "fascists and coup mongers".

He also threatened to revoke the broadcasting licenses of private TV stations that are fiercely critical of his rule.

The strike has rocked Venezuela's oil-reliant economy and sent its bolivar currency tumbling. It has also sent shockwaves through world oil markets and the oil exporters' cartel OPEC agreed on Sunday to raise production to stave off a spike in oil prices threatened by the Venezuelan strike.

In his tough speeches on Saturday, Chavez said 2,000 striking employees of the state oil giant PDVSA had been dismissed.

"This was a declaration of war. Chavez is not interested in dialogue or reconciliation," glass artist Luz Marina Urrecheaga said on Sunday as she and other opposition protesters harangued helmeted troops blocking their path to Fuerte Tiuna.

"What we want are elections now, and the right to march in peace," said another demonstrator, surgeon Carmen Granados.

Troops set up another cordon several hundred yards (metres) away to keep back angry pro-Chavez militants.

"We will do everything possible to a avoid a clash," military police commander Col. Jose Montilla said.

Daily life disrupted

The strike has increasingly disrupted daily life in Venezuela. Venezuelans have been experiencing unprecedented shortages of gasoline, cooking gas and some food items.

Major private manufacturing industries, shopping malls and cinemas have stayed closed and most private schools have failed to open this year as teaching staff stayed away from work. Most public schools, however, have started classes.

Bank workers staged a 48-hour stoppage last week, but will reopen on Monday under restricted service hours which have caused long daily lines outside banks.

Chavez, who was elected in 1998 and survived a brief coup in April, portrays himself as a champion of the poor and says wealthy and corrupt minority elites are trying to topple him from power. He says his self-proclaimed "revolution" is aimed at helping the majority of Venezuelans who live in poverty.

Chavez's foes, who are largely drawn from the country's middle and upper classes, accuse him of dragging Venezuela toward chaos and Cuban-style communism through dictatorial rule, mismanagement and corruption. They say his support has reached an all-time low, even among the poor.

With government and opposition deadlocked over the timing of elections, fears of a violent outcome have increased after a grenade attack last week against the Algerian ambassador's Caracas residence and bomb threats against several embassies.

The United States and other countries, such as Brazil, are backing the idea of a group of "friendly countries" to persuade the government and opposition to reach a negotiated settlement in talks brokered by the Organization of American States.

Opposition leaders announced plans to travel to the United States this weekend to present their case to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the US State Department.

The opposition is pinning its hopes on a Feb. 2 referendum on Chavez's rule scheduled by electoral authorities. But the president rejects this nonbinding referendum as unconstitutional and says he will ignore its result.

He says his foes must wait until August after which the constitution allows for a binding referendum on his rule. His current term is scheduled to end in early 2007.

www.ctv.ca Associated Press

CARACAS — Soldiers lobbed tear gas at tens of thousands of President Hugo Chavez's opponents who marched Sunday on a park outside a military base to demand the support of the armed forces for a 42-day-old strike.

Protesters regrouped as the gas clouds lifted, shouting "cowards" at hundreds of soldiers who faced them with armoured personnel carriers.

Troops also kept back dozens of Chavez supporters protesting nearby.

The first marchers to arrive at Los Proceres Park, which is outside the Fort Tiuna military base, had stomped down barbed wire blocking the entrance, but didn't try to break past security lines. The park is one of eight security zones in Caracas as decreed by Chavez. Protests are banned in those areas unless authorized by the Defence Ministry.

"All of this show of force is absurd," said Henrique Capriles, the opposition mayor of an eastern Caracas district. "People are tired of being assaulted and repressed."

The military -- purged of dissidents after a brief April coup -- has supported Chavez during the strike, which has paralysed the world's fifth-largest oil exporter but hasn't rattled the president's resolve to stay in power. Troops have seized oil tankers, commandeered gasoline trucks and locked striking workers out of oil installations. Top commanders have professed their loyalty to the government.

Speaking in his weekly radio and television address Sunday, Chavez dismissed his opponents as "fascists" manipulated by the media.

Venezuela's main television stations aren't broadcasting any commercials except opposition advertisements promoting the strike. Media owners say they have been pushed into this stance because Chavez incites followers to attack reporters.

Chavez threatened to revoke the broadcasting licences of TV and radio stations if they "continue with their irrational insistence on destabilizing the country by supporting this fascist subversion."

The president also said he has ordered the military to transfer salary deposits out of banks that are participating in the strike by opening only three hours a day.

Venezuela's largest labour confederation, business chamber and opposition parties called for the strike on Dec. 2 to demand that Chavez resign and call early elections if he loses a nonbinding referendum on his rule.

The National Elections Council scheduled the referendum for Feb. 2 after accepting an opposition petition signed by two million people.

Chavez says the vote would be unconstitutional, and his supporters have challenged it in the Supreme Court. He was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000, and his term ends in 2007. Venezuela's constitution allows a recall referendum halfway through a president's term -- August, in Chavez's case.

Opponents accuse the president of running roughshod over democratic institutions and wrecking the economy with leftist policies. The opposition has staged dozens of street marches, called for a tax boycott and held a two-day bank strike last week.

Chavez has threatened to order troops to seize food production plants that are participating in the strike and to fire or jail striking teachers and have soldiers take over their duties.

He already has fired 1,000 oil workers after some 30,000 of 40,000 workers joined the strike, which has caused fuel shortages and slowed oil exports to a trickle.

www.alertnet.org 12 Jan 2003 20:06

(Recasts with troops firing tear gas, Chavez comment)

By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Venezuelan troops fired tear gas on Sunday to force back tens of thousands of anti-government protesters in Caracas as leftist President Hugo Chavez threatened tough measures to counter a crippling 6-week-old opposition strike.

Clouds of gas enveloped the demonstrators, who had marched toward Fuerte Tiuna military headquarters but found their path blocked by barbed wire barricades and several hundred National Guard troops and military police.

"This looks like a war zone," opposition leader Antonio Ledezma said after the protesters scattered. Several people were carried away, apparently overcome by the gas.

The clash, one of several in recent weeks, broke out on the 42nd day of a grueling opposition strike that has slashed oil output and production in the world's No. 5 petroleum exporter.

The strikers are demanding the resignation of the populist leader, who was elected in 1998, six years after he staged a botched coup bid. They want him to hold early elections.

Chavez sternly warned the opposition strikers he would not let them disrupt the nation's social and economic life by shutting down schools and banks or interfering with food supplies.

"They are attacking the country and the population ... denying them gasoline and food ... sabotaging education and health," he said during his weekly television and radio broadcast.

Chavez, who has already sacked 2,000 striking oil executives and employees, repeated threats to send troops to take over private factories and stores if anti-government businessmen withheld food supplies.

On Saturday, he warned the government would intervene in banks and schools shut by the strike.

"This was a declaration of war. Chavez is not interested in dialogue or reconciliation," glass artist Luz Marina Urrecheaga said on Sunday as she and other protesters harangued helmeted troops.

The strike has rocked Venezuela's oil-reliant economy and sent its bolivar currency tumbling. It has also jolted oil markets and the oil exporters' cartel OPEC agreed on Sunday to raise production by 1.5 million barrels per day to stave off a spike in prices threatened by the Venezuelan strike.

PROTESTERS MOCK TROOPS

The marchers had headed toward Fuerte Tiuna in a repeat of a Jan. 3 protest that left two Chavez supporters dead and dozens more injured.

A small crowd of angry Chavez supporters who turned out to confront the anti-government protesters were kept back by a separate cordon of troops.

On his weekly "Hello President" show, Chavez threatened to revoke the broadcasting licenses of private TV stations that criticize his rule.

As a result of the strike, Venezuelans have been experiencing unprecedented shortages of gasoline, cooking gas and some food items.

With many businesses closed, bank workers staged a 48-hour stoppage last week, but will reopen on Monday under restricted service hours.

Chavez, who survived a brief coup in April, says he is a champion of the poor and that wealthy and corrupt minority elites are trying to topple him.

Chavez's foes accuse him of dragging Venezuela toward Cuban-style communism. They say his support has reached an all-time low, even among the poor.

The government and opposition remain deadlocked over the timing of elections and the United States wants a negotiated settlement in talks brokered by the Organization of American States.

Opposition leaders were traveling to the United States to present their case to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the U.S. State Department.

The opposition plans to hold a nonbinding referendum on Chavez's rule on Feb 2. Chavez says such a referendum can't be legally held until August. His term ends in early 2007.

www.abc.net.au Posted: Mon, 13 Jan 2003 7:03 AEDT

Venezuelan military police and National Guards have fired tear gas canisters at opposition protesters marching towards a military complex where an earlier rally ended in violence that killed two. The protest has further stoked tension surrounding a crippling strike, aimed at forcing President Hugo Chavez from office, that is heading into a seventh week.

Military troops in full riot gear had positioned themselves along the main access road to the Fort Tiuna military complex, where several armed personnel carriers were deployed and barbed wire fences were set up.

The military police and National Guard fired the tear gas at a group of protesters that attempted to remove a barbed wire barricade. A small group of Chavez supporters cheered and clapped, while hundreds of protesters flung themselves to the ground to try to avoid inhaling the gas.

Antonio Ledezma, one of the opposition leaders, told reporters that he "appeals to the manhood of the national armed forces" to end their support for Chavez.

Once the tear gas cleared, the protesters again gathered in front of the same barricade, where some of the protesters kneeled on the ground.

Authorities were also holding back a group of Chavez supporters a few metres away.

A similar march to the military installations in south-west Caracas on January 3 ended in violent clashes with Chavez supporters.

Snipers shot at the anti-government protesters and police fired back, leaving two Chavez backers dead and 18 people wounded.