Venezuelans End Strike

www.smartmoney.com February 3, 2003

CARACAS (AP)--Banks, shopping malls, factories and schools opened Monday as opponents of President Hugo Chavez eased a 64-day-old strike, a day after hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans signed petitions demanding his resignation.

On Sunday, opponents signed the petitions, including one that would cut Chavez' term from six years to four. Organizers claimed 4 million citizens signed. The figure could not be verified.

"The pen is our weapon," said Julio Borges of the opposition party Justice First. "Today demonstrates that the struggle hasn't ended. It didn't end with the strike."

Chavez claimed victory over his foes after they agreed Friday to ease the already-waning strike to protect businesses from bankruptcy.

"They have the 'F' of failure on their foreheads," Chavez gloated while congratulating his government for completing four years in power Sunday. "Today we crown the victory and continue with an offensive strategy."

Labeling his opponents as "coup-plotters, fascists and terrorists," Chavez vowed that the strike leaders would pay for the damage to the nation. "They can't remain unpunished ... They must go to prison."

Stores began filling up with products that had become scarce, including fresh milk, juice and bottled drinking water. Lines disappeared at banks, which restored normal working hours for the first time in two months.

Universities and many schools resumed classes. Other schools were holding assemblies to decide whether to open this week. Strike organizers said shopping malls and factories would be opening part-time.

Strike leaders said the walkout would continue in the oil industry, which provides half of government revenue and 70% of export earnings. But lines at service stations in Caracas were also diminishing as the government gradually increased oil production.

Crude oil production is at about 1.8 million barrels a day, according to Chavez. Production was 3 million barrels a day in November and dipped as low as 150,000 barrels a day at the height of the strike. Striking workers say output is now slightly over 1 million barrels.

The most popular initiative on the petition is a constitutional amendment that would cut Chavez's term from six to four years. It needed the signatures of 15% of the electorate - or about 1.8 million people - and would clear the way for general elections later this year.

The opposition set up 4,000 tables nationwide Sunday to gather signatures. Even though they appeared to have gotten far more signatures than they needed, opposition leaders said they would seek more on Monday.

"We feel that they have taken our freedom to express ourselves," said Marisela Gaye, an insurance worker who was waiting to sign in Plaza Francia in eastern Caracas.

A popular opposition rallying ground, the plaza was filled with people waiting to add their names to the lists. Many dressed up their babies in the red, yellow and blue of Venezuela's national flag and brought dogs wearing sweaters with the same colors. The crowd frequently broke into chants of: "It's going to fall, it's going to fall, the government is going to fall!"

A nonbinding referendum on Chavez's rule was originally scheduled for Sunday. Business, labor and opposition groups called the strike Dec. 2 to pressure Chavez into accepting the vote, but the Supreme Court suspended the referendum because of a technicality.

Government and opposition have been locked in negotiations mediated by Organization of American States Secretary General Cesar Gaviria since November, but failed to end the stalemate. What to do with the striking oil workers remains a major sticking point.

As many as 35,000 of the industry's 40,000 workers joined the strike, but most have returned to work, the government says. Chavez has fired more than 5,000 who refused.

Chavez was first elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000 with 60% of the vote. He promised radical change in the oil-rich South American country, where 80% of 24 million people live in poverty.

Chavez's opponents accuse him of driving the economy into the ground while bulldozing the country's democratic institutions.