Chavez vows his government will overcome strike

www.orlandosentinel.com By Christopher Toothaker | The Associated Press Posted January 12, 2003

CARACAS, Venezuela -- President Hugo Chavez insisted Saturday that his "revolutionary" government will overcome a 6-week-old general strike called by the opposition to force him from office, and threatened to fire, or even jail, teachers or school directors joining the work stoppage.

"We are prohibited from failing. Defeat is prohibited," Chavez told a rally of thousands at a stadium in Caracas. "We are going to triumph."

Accusing strike organizers of closing public and private schools, leaving millions of students without classes, Chavez said his backers could take control of schools that remain closed.

"Do the conspirators want the schools to be managed by the people? If that's what they want, that's what we will do. The schools will be managed and directed by the people," he said.

At a separate rally in Caracas' La Vega neighborhood, one of the capital city's poorest areas, government backers voiced support for Chavez's efforts to put an end to food and fuel shortages caused by the strike.

On Friday, Chavez warned businesses hoarding food that he could send troops to seize private property and distribute staples.

Meanwhile, Chavez supporters blocked the route of a planned opposition march through the streets of Maracay, the military's nerve center 42 miles from Caracas. The president's opponents -- who were demanding Chavez's resignation and fresh elections -- delayed the march.

Leaders of the Democratic Coordinator opposition movement quickly responded to Chavez's threats with threats of their own.

"If they touch a media outlet, a private company or a political leader, we will expand the strike by incorporating other sectors," opposition leader Timoteo Zambrano said. "We are ready to retaliate." He did not specify which sectors the strike could extend to.

Carlos Fernandez, head of the country's leading business chamber, said many schools closed or restricted schedules because of low attendance. He insisted most parents were not sending their children to school in support of the strike.

Venezuela's opposition accuses Chavez of attempting to install a Cuban-style communist regime and overriding public institutions such as the Supreme Court. They claim he is intentionally turning this oil-rich South American nation of 24 million into an economic wasteland.

The country's $100 billion economy shrank an estimated 8 percent in 2002, largely due to political instability. Inflation has surpassed 30 percent while unemployment stands at 17 percent.

The 41-day work stoppage is costing Venezuela $70 million a day and is depriving the government of desperately needed income required to pay an estimated 1.5 million public employees.