Clash at Military Base in Venezuela Injures 19

www.voanews.com VOA News 12 Jan 2003, 22:23 UTC

OPEC headquarters, ViennaVenezuelan soldiers have fired tear gas at tens of thousands of opposition supporters marching on a heavily-guarded military base in Caracas.

The military show of force injured at least 19 protesters, including a newspaper photographer hit by rubber bullets.

Sunday's march was in support of a general strike aimed at forcing President Hugo Chavez to resign or order early elections. The six-week strike as crippled Venezuela's economy and choked off oil production by what was once the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Sunday it will boost oil production to make up for the drop in Venezuelan exports that has increased world oil prices to a two-year high of $33 per barrel.

The cartel says nine of its 11 member nations will raise oil production, boosting overall OPEC output from 23 million barrels a day to 24.5 million.

Meanwhile, President Chavez accused his opponents of being "fascists" in his weekly radio and television address Sunday. He also threatened to revoke the broadcast licenses of private stations that are fiercely critical of his rule. Mr. Chavez, who has refused to resign, vowed Saturday to break the general strike that began December second.

A protest at the military complex in Caracas on January third ended in clashes with Chavez supporters that left two people dead and more than a dozen wounded.