Venezuela's Chavez says 1,000 PDVSA strikers fired

10 Jan 2003 19:51 www.alertnet.org

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday said he fired nearly 1,000 employees of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) taking part in a 40-day strike aimed at removing him from office.

"We have fired now nearly 1,000 of them (striking employees). We are cleaning up PDVSA," Chavez said in a speech to supporters broadcast live on television.

Thousands of PDVSA managers and executives, oil field and refinery workers, ship captains and dock crews have joined the strike, which started on Dec. 2 and has crippled the OPEC nation's oil sales.

The strike has severely disrupted Venezuela's economy, which relies on oil exports for half of government revenues.

Crude and product exports have fallen to less than a fifth of the 2.7 million bpd sold before the shutdown. Oil production has dropped to 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 3.1 million bpd in November, a PDVSA executive said this week.

The government this week announced a plan to create two PDVSA affiliates in the main eastern and western production centers, shifting power away from the current Caracas headquarters, where levels of absenteeism have been high during the stoppage.

In addition, PDVSA is seeking workers to replace some of the striking employees, according to a message posted by Planning Minister Felipe Perez on an Internet forum.

Rebel PDVSA employees have said they will not return to their jobs until Chavez resigns or agrees to early elections, and that government efforts to restart the industry using replacement staff will fail. Venezuela's oil sector normally employs about 40,000 workers. (Additional reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez)