Venezuela opposition defies Chavez

Sunday, 9 February, 2003, 00:58 GMT news.bbc.co.uk The opposition says many oil-workers are still on strike

More than 100,000 people have marched through the capital, Caracas, to protest against the policies of President Hugo Chavez.

Blowing whistles and banging drums, protesters took to the streets to show solidarity with the 9,000 workers who were sacked from the state-owned oil company PDVSA during the strike.

We're convinced that the oil industry cannot work without us

Reinaldo Michelena, sacked oil worker

The latest rally comes only days after President Chavez declared a two-month long anti-government strike defeated.

The strike aimed at ousting the oil-rich country's president has weakened since it began on 2 December - but PDVSA strikers said on Saturday that their action could still bring down the government.

"We're convinced that the oil industry cannot work without us," Reinaldo Michelena, one of those sacked, told Reuters news agency.

"We'll keep on with this strike because the only way to get rid of this government is hitting at the economy."

Marching under the national flag, protesters chanted "Chavez, you're a thief! PDVSA is not yours, it's everyone's!"

Currency controls

Mr Chavez, in office since 1998, faces a broad alliance of political parties, unions and private businesses who accuse him of authoritarianism and mismanaging the economy.

Strike crisis

At least seven people killed in strike-related violence

Oil exports still a fraction of the pre-strike volume

Has cost the government at least $4bn

Having fired the PDVSA strikers and restructured the company, he is resisting calls for fresh elections and refuses to amnesty the strikers whom he brands as "terrorists".

He says that most of PDVSA's 40,000 employees have returned to work.

But the opposition denies this - they say thousands are still on strike in support of their sacked colleagues.

The strike has battered Venezuela's economy, slashing its vital crude oil exports and causing severe domestic fuel shortages.

The president has brought in tight foreign exchange curbs and price controls to shore up reserves and the national currency, the bolivar.

Oil squeeze

Announcing the controls on television this week, he waved a copy of Venezuela's penal code at viewers and accused opposition leaders of planning to take hard currency out of the country.