Chavez claims victory in 'petrol war'

Gulf daily News - The voice of Bahrein www.gulf-daily-news.com

CARACAS: As petrol trucks rolled out behind him, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said last night he was beating back a strike choking the oil industry, but hundreds of thousands of protesters demanded he step down.

"Those we are fighting against are immoral and they are wrong. They are lost and we are assured of the road to a great victory for Venezuela," said Chavez, applauding as strike-busting fuel trucks drove off from the Yaguas petrol distribution centre near Caracas.

But the opposition-backed general strike which has paralyzed much of the country for 28 days and has almost stopped shipments from the world's fifth-largest oil exporter showed no sign of easing as several hundred thousand flag-waving anti-Chavez protesters marched through Caracas.

"They're going to have to kill us to stop the people.

"Absolutely no one can stop this strike," one of the protest leaders, union boss Carlos Ortega, told the crowd.

The opposition strikers, organised by business and union leaders, demand Chavez call elections, accusing him of abuse of authority and corruption.

Support for Chavez, whose term is due to run until 2007, has plunged, even among his poor powerbase which he has wooed with cheap loans and a folksy style spiced with the fiery rhetoric of class warfare.