Venezuelans begin around-the-clock protests
newsobserver.com By STEPHEN IXER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - At least a hundred thousand Venezuelans - many equipped with tents, inflatable mattresses and foldout chairs - parked themselves on a Caracas highway Saturday in what they said would be their longest protest yet against President Hugo Chavez. Shouting "until he goes!", the protesters blanketed a stretch of nearly three miles, prepared to spend the night. On the advice of organizers, many also brought water, sun hats, portable TVs and radios to help while away the hours. Police at the scene estimated the crowd at between 200,000 and 300,000 people. At least a hundred thousand were present, Caracas fire chief Rodolfo Briceno said.
"Prepare yourself for the longest protest in history!" screamed TV commercials and newspaper ads in the opposition-run media.
The opposition is trying to recover from a Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday that postponed indefinitely a Feb. 2 referendum that would have asked citizens whether Chavez should resign. Although the referendum wouldn't have been binding, opponents had hoped a negative outcome would persuade Chavez to quit.
"Although they stole the referendum from us, spirits are higher than ever," said Alexandra Suarez, a 19-year-old student carrying a sleeping bag on her shoulder.
Opponents had gathered 2 million signatures to petition for the vote. They backed up their demand by launching a devastating national strike Dec. 2 and staging daily street protests. Six people have been killed during protests since the strike began.
The 55-day strike has badly hurt the oil industry, which provides half of the government's income and a third of Venezuela's gross domestic product. But production in the world's fifth largest oil exporter is slowly reviving.
The government claims most of the 40,000 employees at the state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., have abandoned the strike and that output has reached 1 million barrels per day. Striking executives put the figure at 855,000 and deny most employees are back to work. Output was 3 million barrels a day before the strike. It reached a low of less than 200,000 last month.
Justices ruled that no national vote - a referendum or election - can be held until it decides whether elections council member Leonardo Pizani is eligible to serve on the panel.
Members of Chavez's ruling party filed a suit arguing that Pizani couldn't serve because he resigned from the council in 2000, only to rejoin last November. Pizani insisted he could rejoin because Congress, by law, had failed to formally accept his resignation.
Searching for a new strategy, the opposition Democratic Coordinator movement is gathering signatures to demand a constitutional amendment that would pave the way for early elections. The amendment would involve cutting Chavez's six-year term to four.
Former President Carter proposed a similar plan while attending negotiations between the government and opposition in Caracas last week. His Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center, the Organization of American States and the United Nations are co-sponsoring the talks.
Under Carter's plan, the opposition would call off the strike in exchange for a government pledge to quickly push through a similar amendment. Such a deal would save the opposition the effort of collecting signatures because either the president or Congress - where the government has a majority of seats - can call a referendum to approve the amendment.
Carter proposed a second plan that would have both sides prepare for a binding referendum on Chavez's rule in August, midway point in his term. The constitution allows such a vote. The Democratic Coordinator said it was also collecting signatures to petition for that vote.
Chavez has indicated he would be open to both the amendment and the August referendum, and he welcomed Carter's proposals on Saturday. "The general focus, the strategy, appears spot on," Chavez told reporters. He had argued the February referendum would have been unconstitutional.