Venezuela to Greet New Year Locked in Strike Stalemate
— By Patrick Markey
CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelans prepared for New Year celebrations marked by sharp political conflict on Tuesday as an opposition strike to force President Hugo Chavez to resign stretched into its fifth week.
Strike leaders from political parties, unions, business groups and state oil firm PDVSA appeared determined to hold their ground until Chavez quit and called elections in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.
The stoppage, started on Dec. 2, has battered the country's strategic oil sector, rattled energy markets and stoked fears of violent clashes over the rule of the former paratrooper whose leftist reforms have riled his foes.
Police fired tear gas to disperse government and opposition sympathizers Monday after they clashed briefly. Tensions flared again later in Caracas when police detained a dissident general who has urged popular resistance against Chavez.
After a Christmas marred by political rancor and domestic gas shortages, Venezuelans appeared ready to make the most of year-end festivities with their Andean nation still caught in a tense deadlock.
"We came out to play and help people forget a little," said Juan Gil, a musician strumming a guitar on a central Caracas street. "Sure there are problems, but we have to celebrate."
Chavez, who led a botched coup six years before his 1998 election, has rejected calls to step down. He says he is steadily defeating foes he portrays as "rich elites" who want to topple him by destroying the petroleum industry.
But opponents of his self-styled, populist "revolution" have kept up their daily campaign of criticism, accusing him of economic mismanagement, dictatorial rule and of trying to install a Cuba-style communist state.
FIGHTING WORDS OVER OIL SECTOR
Since Chavez survived a short-lived coup in April, his popularity has slipped. However, he maintains support among poorer voters who say his reforms, such as easy credits and land reform, have addressed rife inequality.
Vowing to defeat the strikers, Chavez has sacked dissident oil executives and replaced protesting oil workers with strike-breaking crews. He says oil production will soon return to normal levels.
Still, Venezuela, where gasoline costs less than mineral water, has been forced to import fuel to cope with dwindling domestic supplies. Many motorists in the capital spent their Christmas scouring the city for gasoline.
Attempts by the Organization of American States to end the political standoff have so far failed. The opposition demands a date for elections in the next three months and have urged Chavez to agree to a nonbinding referendum on Feb. 2.
But the president rejects early elections and says the constitution only allows a binding referendum on his mandate in August, halfway though his current term. Elections are due at the end of 2006.