VOA News 01 Jan 2003, 15:25 UTC AP

Venezuelan protesters celebrate the arrival of New Year Rival political demonstrators in Venezuela have begun the new year with pro- and anti-government rallies amid a crippling, five-week general strike.

Tens of thousands of opponents of President Hugo Chavez filled a stretch of highway in Caracas Tuesday for New Year's celebrations, and protests calling for the president to resign.

Meanwhile, Chavez supporters staged pro-government rallies a few kilometers away.

In a televised speech Tuesday, Mr. Chavez said the government was triumphing over what he called the opposition's efforts to ruin Venezuela. The embattled leader left Venezuela Wednesday for Brazil to attend the presidential inauguration of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and the strike has cut production by about 90 percent and forced the country to import fuel and other supplies. The work stoppage has also put upward pressure on world oil prices.

A key strike leader, Carlos Ortega, says the work stoppage will continue with greater strength. He also repeated an opposition call for Venezuelans to stop paying taxes as part of the effort to force President Chavez from power.

Opponents of President Chavez began the strike December 2 in a bid to force him to resign and call early elections.

The president has responded to the strike by firing dissident executives from the state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela and ordering troops to take over idle tankers. He says the strike amounts to a coup attempt.

Mr. Chavez was ousted in a coup in April, but loyalist troops quickly restored him to power.

VOA News 01 Jan 2003, 15:25 UTC AP

Venezuelan protesters celebrate the arrival of New Year Rival political demonstrators in Venezuela have begun the new year with pro- and anti-government rallies amid a crippling, five-week general strike.

Tens of thousands of opponents of President Hugo Chavez filled a stretch of highway in Caracas Tuesday for New Year's celebrations, and protests calling for the president to resign.

Meanwhile, Chavez supporters staged pro-government rallies a few kilometers away.

In a televised speech Tuesday, Mr. Chavez said the government was triumphing over what he called the opposition's efforts to ruin Venezuela. The embattled leader left Venezuela Wednesday for Brazil to attend the presidential inauguration of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and the strike has cut production by about 90 percent and forced the country to import fuel and other supplies. The work stoppage has also put upward pressure on world oil prices.

A key strike leader, Carlos Ortega, says the work stoppage will continue with greater strength. He also repeated an opposition call for Venezuelans to stop paying taxes as part of the effort to force President Chavez from power.

Opponents of President Chavez began the strike December 2 in a bid to force him to resign and call early elections.

The president has responded to the strike by firing dissident executives from the state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela and ordering troops to take over idle tankers. He says the strike amounts to a coup attempt.

Mr. Chavez was ousted in a coup in April, but loyalist troops quickly restored him to power.

Embattled President Chavez Leaves Venezuela to Attend Inauguration of Brazilian President

The Associated Press The embattled Venezuelan president his rule under threat from turmoil in the strikebound oil-producing nation left the country Wednesday to attend the inauguration of the new Brazilian president.

In what could be a daring move given the upheaval shaking Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez arrived in Brasilia for the ceremony installing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whom he considers a friend and ally.

As the old year turned to new Wednesday, thousands of protesters filled a downtown highway in Caracas to celebrate and demand that Chavez hold a referendum on his embattled presidency.

The demonstrators waved flags, shot off firecrackers and chanted, "Not one step back," in a call to continue a month-long general strike aimed at ousting Chavez from power.

A few miles away, about 1,000 Chavez supporters held their own rally with a loud celebration party outside one of Venezuela's state-run oil company buildings.

The capital awoke to silence Wednesday morning and streets littered with exploded fire crackers and broken beer glass. People stayed home and shops were closed either for the strike or for the holiday.

The dueling celebrations highlighted the divisions in this South American country, where even family holidays have turned political. New Year's is traditionally a family celebration in Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

The oil industry, which produces one-third of the gross domestic product and 70 percent of export revenue, has been paralyzed by the strike, which began Dec. 2. Chavez responded by firing dozens of strikers at Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. and importing gasoline and food to counteract shortages.

At the opposition rally, the rhetoric toward Chavez was bitter.

"He is a bandit, an illiterate. He doesn't know how to speak well; he's primitive," said Carmen Carrillo, 63, as she watched what the opposition called a Party for Peace.

"The thing is, the situation is truly bad in Venezuela right now."

Strike leaders said Tuesday that if Chavez does not bow to demands for a Feb. 2 referendum on his presidency, they will lead another march on the heavily defended presidential palace.

"I say let's go," said Carlos Ortega, head of Venezuela's largest labor confederation. "And if they are going to kill us, let them kill us once and for all."

Nineteen people were killed in the opposition's last march on the palace, which prompted a failed two-day coup last April.

Already, protests have erupted at empty service stations. Many Venezuelans predict full-scale riots if Chavez cannot begin delivering gasoline.

Many citizens also are embarrassed that a nation with the largest oil reserves outside the Middle East has been forced to import gasoline from other countries.

At the pro-Chavez rally, the president's supporters listened closely to Chavez' year-end message. The speech, broadcast nationally and presented on a giant screen at the rally, offered little hope for a quick end to the crisis. The president instead braced his country for a tough year to come.

"We must prepare to face difficulties in the first quarter of the year: economic difficulties and difficulties in continuing all the government's plans," he said.

"Let's prepare ourselves for the battle, but prepare ourselves with the conviction that 2003 will be a good year. A year of bounty, progress, prosperity, and the consolidation of peace, to leave behind the winds of war that still blow."

The Chavistas, as the president's supporters are called, danced under Christmas lights as a 13-piece band played "gaitas," traditional holiday music, while fireworks lit the sky.

"Chavez is the president of the poor and we trust he'll make our lives better. That's why we're going to continue by his side in 2003," said 69-year-old Lourdes Cardenas. "United, we'll overcome adversity."

VOA News 01 Jan 2003, 22:25 UTC

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been sworn in as Brazil's first elected leftist president.

President da Silva was inaugurated Wednesday in Brasilia, pledging to fight hunger, create jobs and unite the countries of South America for common goals.

In his inaugural speech to Congress, the 57-year-old president cited his own childhood struggle against poverty. Choking back tears, he vowed to ease the burden of 50 million Brazilians still living in poverty, but said it will take time to keep that promise.

Mr. da Silva blamed the policies of his predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, for the economic problems plaguing the nation of 170-million people. The new government faces the challenges of rising inflation and a $260 billion debt.

President da Silva delivered his inaugural speech before scores of invited guests, who included Cuban President Fidel Castro, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Eduardo Duhalde of Argentina. The United States sent a delegation led by Trade Representative Robert Zoellick.

Mr. da Silva traveled to his inauguration in a Rolls-Royce convertible as thousands of Brazilians massed in the streets chanted his name and waved flags. Giant television screens were also set up along the city's main avenue in order for the crowds to view the festivities.

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.

By ALAN CLENDENNING Associated Press Writer

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP)--Brazil's first elected leftist president took office Wednesday, pledging to ease the agony of countless impoverished and hungry Brazilians who inhabit South America's biggest country--a fertile land the size of the continental United States.

Choking back tears as he spoke to an estimated 200,000 supporters, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said there was no excuse for hunger among any of Brazil's estimated 50 million poor.

``If at the end of my mandate all Brazilians have the possibility to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, I will have fulfilled the mission of my life,'' said the former union leader and head of the Workers Party.

Silva warned, however, that the task would be difficult. Brazil's weakened economy has produced double-digit inflation and a currency that lost 35 percent of its value against the dollar last year.

``No one can reap the fruit before planting the trees,'' Silva said.

As Silva began to speak before Congress, the masses who were jammed in a huge park outside danced and chanted ``Lula! Lula!'' _ as Silva is popularly known.

Then they fell silent, transformed as if listening to a sermon from one of their own, as indeed he was--the son of a dirt-poor farmer who dropped out of the fifth grade to shine shoes and sell peanuts. The scene was in stark contrast to previous Brazilian inaugurations, when the crowds never numbered more than 30,000.

Silva said he would fight inflation, reduce corruption, boost efforts to give land to the poor and negotiate hard with the United States over the terms of a hemisphere-wide free trade agreement.

Psychiatry professor Maria Aparecida Gussi and her 13-year-old daughter cried during the speech, but said their tears were from joy.

All I want is a better Brazil for my children, and he's giving us that hope,'' Gussi said. The hope that it will be better.''

After the swearing-in and speech before Congress, Silva ascended a ramp to the presidential building, and accepted from outgoing President Fernando Fernando Henrique Cardoso the revered symbol of the presidency--a sash with the green, blue and yellow colors of the Brazilian flag.

Earlier, a man burst through barricades to hug Silva while he stood smiling and waving from the convertible Rolls-Royce that drove him to the inaugural.

Just before Silva walked on a red carpet into Congress, several young people broke through police lines near an artificial lake, jumping into the water to be closer to their future president.

Leaders and representatives of 119 countries--including presidents of seven other Latin American nations--attended the inauguration. Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez watched from the front row of Congress as Silva was sworn in.

Silva counts them as friends, and will have breakfast Thursday with Chavez and lunch with Castro, who looked healthy and showed no signs of difficulty walking after recovering from a serious leg infection. Castro last month spent nearly two weeks out of sight while undergoing treatment.

The United States sent U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick. He and Sen. Michael Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, met Wednesday morning for an hour with Antonio Palocci, Silva's finance minister.

``It was a listen-and-learn visit, in which the basic economic problems of Brazil were discussed,'' Zoellick said in a statement.

Silva, 57, takes over from Cardoso in Brazil's first transition between two democratically elected presidents in more than 40 years. He is Brazil's 36th president.

The country's last leftist president, Joao Goulart, got the job in 1961 after elected President Janio Quadros unexpectedly resigned. Goulart's presidency was characterized by a polarization of Brazil's society that led to a military coup in 1964.

A former radical who used to espouse socialism, Silva was jailed during Brazil's dictatorship, which lasted until 1985. He won the presidency in a landslide in October on his fourth try since 1989.

Silva has taken pains to tell voters that it may be difficult during his first four-year term to keep his promises of creating millions of jobs and ending hunger. He will be up for re-election in 2006.

People watching the ceremony said Silva is up to the job but will have a tough time keeping his campaign promises.

``I hope he's going to change things, but it's a huge challenge for him,'' said Fabiane Cristina, a 20-year-old baby sitter who lives in Brasilia.

Federal police estimated the crowd at 200,000 or more, according to the Web site of O Globo, a Rio de Janeiro newspaper.

In a break with tradition, organizers set up huge TV screens in the park and a stage where Brazilian pop groups started playing hours before the inauguration. Hundreds of outdoor stalls sold everything from grilled pork and beer to T-shirts.

Brazilian pop music superstar Gilberto Gil, who will serve as Silva's cultural minister, was one of the first to play.

``Viva Lula!'' Gil shouted to thunderous applause. After the concert, the dreadlocked Gil donned a dark suit and was sworn in at the presidential offices with the rest of Silva's ministers.