President claims win in Venezuela

www.suntimes.com February 3, 2003

CARACAS, Venezuela--President Hugo Chavez declared victory Sunday after his opponents agreed to ease a two-month national strike, but thousands of Venezuelans still lined up for a petition drive seeking his ouster.

Strike organizers, who began the protest Dec. 2 to pressure Chavez into accepting a referendum on his rule, said Friday they would ease the work stoppage, already waning, this week to protect businesses from bankruptcy.

However, the strike will continue in the vital oil industry, where production was cut from 3 million barrels a day to 150,000 at the height of the strike. Chavez said Sunday the government boosted production to 1.8 million barrels a day, but striking workers put the number at 1 million.

''Today is a victorious day,'' the president said. ''We have beaten once and for all a new destabilizing attempt.''

But opposition leaders were far from conceding defeat.

Thousands of Venezuelans waited hours in the tropical sun Sunday to sign petitions in support of various measures seeking his ouster.

The opposition hopes one petition in particular--a constitutional amendment reducing Chavez's term from six to four years--will succeed, paving the way for general elections later this year.