New Year in Venezuela Starts With Rival Political Protests

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.