Rivals clash as strike continues

From correspondents in Caracas December 31, 2002

SEVERAL people have been injured in street clashes between supporters and opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The violence came as a strike that has strangled the nation's oil sector entered its fifth week.

Police fired teargas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd in Caracas.

The incident started after a small group of people staged a protest outside the Disip political police.

The demonstrators protested what they said was the illegal arrest of a general, one of about 150 officers who have declared themselves in rebellion.

Chavez supporters then descended from a slum overlooking the area and both sides hurled rocks and bottles at each other.

At least two people were wounded by the projectiles, while two Chavez supporters who drove by on a motorcycle were severely beaten up by government opponents.

The clashes came amid rising tension in Venezuela, where a 29-day-old general strike has caused severe petrol shortages, sent crude prices soaring and accentuated the deep polarisation of the oil-rich but poverty-wracked South American country.

Strike leaders have said they will pursue the protest until President Hugo Chavez steps down or calls snap elections.

"Mr Chavez step down now ... if you don't do it the people will take care of you," said unionist Carlos Ortega today.

In Maracaibo, in the heart of the oil-rich state of Zulia, police fired rubber bullets and teargas to separate the president's supporters from foes after the two sides scuffled.

The incident occurred as protesters tried to march past Chavez supporters collecting signatures for a petition to sue the strikers for damages to the Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) state oil firm.

Chavez has remained firm in the face of the crisis.

"I have no plans to quit," he said yesterday, even as hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Caracas to demand that he step down.

"I will leave when God says so and the people request it, not when the oligarchy wants me to."

The former paratrooper claimed he had won major victories in his battle to reactivate the oil sector strangled by the opposition.

But petrol shortages remained critical and output trickled at a fraction of normal levels.

In Caracas, motorists waited up to 18 hours for a tankful of petrol. "All this because of this man who says we must all sacrifice, this Mr Ortega," said Katy la Cruz, one of hundreds of people lining up under a scorching sun outside a Caracas service station.

The government said daily crude production amounted to 600,000 to 700,000 barrels a day, but the opposition put the figure at 150,000, down from about three million barrels a day in November.

Authorities also said the strike had cost PDVSA $US2 billion ($3.55 billion) so far.

In New York oil prices have reached two-year highs, with the reference light sweet crude February contract rising US66 cents ($1.17) to $US33.38 ($59.23) a barrel.

The world's fifth largest oil exporter and eighth crude producer, Venezuela has been forced to import petrol from Brazil, and is expecting a further shipment from Trinidad.

Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said today the government planned to double oil output to 1.2 million barrels a day within a week.

On the diplomatic side, the situation looked dim, with no significant progress reported in internationally mediated negotiations.

"It is very difficult to find common ground when the economy of the country is being seriously damaged in a bid to twist the government's arm," said Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton.