International Scene: Venezuelan community joins protest
www.chron.com March 9, 2003, 10:38PM By MAE GHALWASH Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle
Venezuelan community joins protest
Waving Venezuelan flags and posters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez alongside U.S. enemies Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, members of Houston's Venezuelan community staged a demonstration in the Galleria area Sunday to demand early elections in their native land to oust Chavez.
About 250 marchers banged pots and pans -- a tradition in Venezuelan protests -- and chanted "we want freedom" and "he's leaving, he's leaving," in Spanish. They also waved signs that read "Watch out America, Chavez sponsors international terrorism," with pictures of Chavez next to Iraqi strongman Hussein, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Cuban leader Fidel Castro and terrorist bin Laden.
"We elected Chavez in democratic elections, but he's turning the government into a dictatorship. We don't want that. We want democracy in Venezuela; we want respect for civil rights," said Gerardo Urdaneto, a spokesman for the Houston chapter of the Civil Resistance of Venezuelans Abroad, which organized the Houston demonstration.
The demonstration was part of worldwide protests held in some 42 cities around the world, including the United States, Europe, Canada and Latin America, said Norman Carnaham, a publicist for the Houston chapter.
Venezuelans are split over Chavez's rule. His opponents accuse him of destroying the petroleum industry and the economy and of trying to form a Cuba-style leftist state. His supporters credit him for ridding Venezuela of oil giants who filled their pockets with the country's petroleum profits.
In December, oil workers in Venezuela went on strike, crippling the country's economy, to force Chavez from office. The tension spread to Houston, where anti-Chavez activists staged protests demanding a nationwide referendum that would ask Venezuelans whether Chavez should stay in office.
Chavez's opponents were dealt a blow in January when the Venezuelan Supreme Court ruled that the nationwide referendum, which would have come in February, would be indefinitely suspended.
Since then, membership in the organization's Houston chapter soared from 150 to 565, said Mary Grunewaldt, who was dressed Sunday in a T-shirt emblazoned with the Venezuelan flag and who manages the group's membership database. Sunday's march was the group's third since January and eighth since December.
International calendar:
• Iraq/Middle East: Marc Ginsberg, adviser to major news networks on Middle East issues, former U.S. ambassador to Morocco and former presidential adviser on Mediterranean security will discuss post-conflict peace and governance in Iraq and the Middle East. The event starts at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at the Junior League Building, 1811 Briar Oaks Lane. Reservations are required. Call the Houston World Affairs Council at 713-522-7811.
• China: Scott Arrington, a partner in the Baker & McKenzie law firm, and Tyrena Holley, commercial officer at the Houston Export Assistance Center, will be among the speakers at the 2003 Exporters Workshop Series, which will focus on exporting to China. Topics will include business opportunities for American companies, legal considerations and whom to call for assistance. The event starts at 8:15 a.m. Thursday at the Greater Houston Partnership, 1200 Smith St., Suite 700. Reservations are required by noon Tuesday. Call the GHP at 713-844-3636.
• Italy: Louis Markos, associate professor of literature at Houston Baptist University, will discuss Dante Alighieri's thoughts on hell, sins and punishments in a talk on Dante's classic Inferno at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Houston Italian Cultural and Community Center, 1101 Milford. Reservations are required. Call 281-344-9742.
• Hispanics: Author Oscar Casares will read from and sign his debut collection of short stories on Tex-Mex culture titled Brownsville, which is set in that border Texas town, at 7 p.m. today at Brazos Bookstore, 2421, Bissonnet. For information, call 713-523-0701.