Chavez Says He Won't Back Down

The Bush adminstration's unexpected call for early elections to end Venezuela's political crisis suggested Washington still has much to learn about nurturing democracy in Latin America.   

CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez said yesterday that he was defeating a month-old strike choking the oil industry even as hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets to demand his resignation.

"I've got no plans to back down. My plans are for an offensive, an attack," said Chavez, applauding as strike-busting fuel trucks drove off from the Yaguas gasoline distribution center near Caracas.

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

The opposition strikers, organized by business and union leaders, asked Chavez to call elections, accusing him of abuse of authority, corruption and economic incompetence in what they say is his quest to install a Cuban-style dictatorship.

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

In an attempt to loosen the stoppage's grip, Venezuela has even done the unthinkable and imported some gasoline from Brazil, but fuel is still scarce in Caracas.