Venezuelan opposition extends strike for 58th day

www.forbes.com Reuters, 01.27.03, 6:09 PM ET

CARACAS, Venezuela, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Venezuelan opposition leaders on Monday extended for a 58th day a crippling strike in the fifth largest oil exporter aimed at forcing President Hugo Chavez to resign.

The strike, which began on Dec. 2, has slashed vital crude oil output and exports, driven up global energy prices and brought the OPEC member nation to the brink of economic collapse.

"Today more than ever, we remain committed to the fight for a free country," said Carlos Fernandez, a strike leader who also heads the national business chamber Fedecamaras.

Striking employees of state oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) say they will strike until Chavez resigns, calls elections and reinstates fired oil workers.

Some opposition leaders said shopping centers and food franchises could be allowed to reopen.

Chavez, a former paratrooper who was elected in 1998 and survived a coup, has refused to step down and sacked more than 3,000 PDVSA managers for abandoning their posts.

To deal with the devastating impact of the strike, he has prepared price controls, currency curbs and imposed a big cut in government spending.

The former paratrooper says he is defeating the strike using troops and replacement workers. Strikers dismiss his claims, but concede that oil production has crept up to about 30 percent of pre-strike levels.

Some blue-collar oil workers have also returned to work, but support for the strike remains strong among key PDVSA managers and skilled workers at oilfields, refineries and ports.

"The PDVSA we used to belong to no longer exists, so we don't have anywhere to go back to," said Orlando Perez, a striking employee at PDVSA subsidiary Intevep.

"The executive has dismembered the company, eliminating many of its functions," he added.