Venezuelan government to defer to top court

www.globeandmail.com Associated Press

Caracas — Venezuela's Vice-President said Tuesday the government would respect the high court if it rules to allow a Feb. 2 plebiscite on President Hugo Chavez's rule.

However, Vice-President Jose Vicente Rangel warned that such a ruling would create chaos in this country of 24 million coping with a general strike called by opponents to overthrow President Hugo Chavez.

"If the Supreme Tribunal confirms the plebiscite is constitutional we will accept this verdict," Mr. Rangel said. The government, he added, complied with a ruling exonerating the leaders of an April 11 coup against Mr. Chavez.

Anger is growing on both sides as the strike drags into its sixth week. It has hurt oil production in the world's fifth largest exporter and depleted store shelves. Mr. Chavez's opponents call him authoritarian and unfit to govern, while his supporters of the former paratrooper accuse strikers of trying to force a coup.

On Tuesday, an airliner headed to the Dominican Republic was forced to return to Caracas when passengers staged an on-board protest targeting an ally of Mr. Chavez. They shook fold-out trays and shouted to protest against the presence of retired Gen. Belisario Landis, Venezuela's ambassador in Santo Domingo, shortly after the Aeropostal-Alas de Venezuela flight left the ground.

The pilots returned to Caracas, and everyone on board was ordered off the plane.The Boeing 727 took off again an hour later, after passengers promised not to disrupt the flight again.

Another incident occurred inside the airport on Tuesday when an unidentified man threw a tear gas grenade at a group that was shouting "Assassins! Assassins!" at three pro-Chavez lawmakers. After a few minutes of confusion, the airport continued functioning normally.

On Nov. 6, opposition groups fought through tear gas and bullets to present election authorities with two million signatures required to convoke the plebiscite on Mr. Chavez's rule.

Under Venezuelan law, citizens can convoke a vote by gathering signatures from at least 10 per cent of the nation's 12 million registered voters. If high court magistrates declare the plebiscite legal, Mr. Rangel said, the government will urge Chavistas, as the President's supporters are called, to abstain from casting ballots.

Allies and adversaries of Mr. Chavez have presented the Supreme Tribunal with 14 cases for and against the plebiscite. The President, who was elected in 1998 and re-elected two years later, argues the only way he can be removed from office is through a recall referendum in August, halfway through his six-year term.

Mr. Chavez says his government will not transfer $22-million (U.S.) required by election authorities to organize balloting until the court decides if the vote is legally sound.

While the fate of the voteremains in limbo, opponents of Mr. Chavez claim the former paratrooper is building an authoritarian regime and riding roughshod over public institutions.

The Bloque de Prensa, the nation's largest association of newspapers, issued a statement Tuesday accusing Mr. Chavez of "violent repression of peaceful marches" and preparing "to close television and radio stations" critical of his government.

Leaders of the Democratic Coordinator opposition movement said they would intensify the strike in response to a government takeover of the Caracas police force.

Soldiers loyal to Mr. Chavez seized riot gear from the police department Tuesday in what Caracas Mayor Alfredo Pena called a deliberate effort to undermine him.

Mr. Pena said the raid stripped police of their ability to control street protests that have erupted almost daily since the strike began Dec. 2. Five people have died in strike-related demonstrations.

Police used tear gas Tuesday to separate pro- and anti-Chavez protesters. Caracas Fire Chief Rodolfo Briceno said one protester was wounded by gunshots and another hit by a vehicle. Both were in stable condition, he said.

Mr. Rangel said the seizure was part of an effort to make police answer for alleged abuses against Chavez demonstrators. The government accuses police of killing two Chavez supporters during a melee two weeks ago.

Troops searched several police stations at dawn, confiscating submachine guns and 12-gauge shotguns used to fire rubber bullets and tear gas, said Commander Freddy Torres, the department's legal consultant. Officers were allowed to keep their standard-issue .38-calibre pistols.

Mr. Chavez ordered troops to take control of the force in November, but the Supreme Court ordered it restored to Mr. Pena last month.