Venezuela's Chavez Taunts Foes with Celebration

reuters.com Tue February 4, 2003 01:41 PM ET By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has survived a two-month strike he blames on opposition "coup mongers," on Tuesday taunted his frustrated opponents by celebrating the anniversary of a botched coup bid he led in 1992.

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel and other ministers attended a religious service and laid a wreath in Caracas to commemorate the Feb. 4, 1992 uprising in which left-winger Chavez, then an unknown paratroop lieutenant-colonel, attempted a failed assault against the presidential palace.

Chavez, who distributed land titles Tuesday in poor west Caracas, served two years in jail for the coup attempt. The publicity he gained launched him on the path to the presidency, which he won with widespread support in a 1998 election.

Tuesday's government celebration of Chavez's unsuccessful coup bid infuriated opposition leaders. They are already frustrated over the failure of their strike launched more than nine weeks ago to try to force the president from office.

Several hundred Chavez supporters, many wearing the red paratrooper's beret that is the symbol of his self-styled "revolution," attended the official commemoration of Chavez's 1992 coup bid. "This is a day of dignity," pro-Chavez housewife Miriam Bolivar told Reuters in downtown Caracas.

Two policemen were later hurt when clashes broke out between police and stone-throwing pro-Chavez militants.

The opposition strike has pushed the oil-reliant economy into crisis, forcing the government to cut spending and prepare foreign exchange controls expected this week.

he opposition strike, which slashed oil production in the world's No. 5 petroleum exporter, was scaled back Sunday to continue only in the oil sector. It has pushed the oil-reliant economy into crisis, forcing the government to cut spending and prepare foreign exchange controls expected this week.

Chavez says his government is restoring the strike-hit oil industry and that oil production is fast approaching 2 million barrels per day (bpd), two thirds of pre-strike levels. Opposition strikers put current output at 1.2 million bpd.

In a switch of tactics, opposition leaders grouped in the Coordinadora Democratica coalition are now relaunching a determined political campaign to try to trigger early elections to oust the president, who has ruled for four years.

COUP ACCUSATIONS FLY

Chavez, who was briefly deposed by a short-lived coup last year, repeatedly vilifies his foes as "oligarchs," "terrorists" and "coup mongers." They condemn his rule as corrupt and inept, say he is seeking to install Cuba-style communism and accuse him of obstructing their campaign for early elections.

"The world has seen that while the Coordinadora Democratica insists on seeking an electoral solution, the president and his government are using all kinds of tricks and maneuvers to try to block a vote," opposition negotiator Americo Martin said.

"So, who are the coup-mongers and who are the democrats?" he told Reuters.

Chavez argues that his 1992 coup bid, in which 14 people were killed and more than 50 injured, was a legitimate military rebellion against what he said was the corrupt rule of then President Carlos Andres Perez.

Since last year's April coup that deposed him for 48 hours, Chavez has purged his military enemies from the armed forces and now appears to have backing from within the barracks.

Organization of American States Secretary General Cesar Gaviria, backed by a six-nation "group of friends" including the United States and Brazil, is trying to help the government and the opposition to agree a political deal on elections.

Chavez's government on Monday rejected an opposition proposal to cut short his mandate and trigger early elections through an amendment to the constitution. In a nationwide operation on Sunday, opposition leaders said they had collected more than four million signatures backing the constitutional amendment.

Dashing hopes for quick elections to solve the Venezuelan crisis, which has rattled world oil markets amid fears of a U.S. war on Iraq, Chavez's government says its foes must wait until Aug. 19, halfway though the president's current term.

After that date, the constitution allows for a binding referendum on Chavez's rule.

But the opposition, which appears divided over strategy and lacks a clear leader to challenge Chavez, wants elections sooner, or at the latest on Aug 19, the date suggested by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter who backs the peace talks. (Additional reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez)