www.voanews.com VOA News 02 Feb 2003, 18:11 UTC

Opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are turning out in large numbers Sunday to sign a petition demanding early elections.

President ChavezLong lines formed at sign-up tables across the country, as citizens added their names to the petition.

Under the constitution, organizers need signatures from 15 percent, or about 1.8 million people, of the country's registered voters.

The petition calls for a constitutional amendment to shorten President Chavez's rule and for elections later this year. Mr. Chavez has made it clear he will not support the constitutional amendment.

The opposition campaign follows an appeal by a six-nation "Friends of Venezuela" group for a democratic, electoral solution to end the crisis. Envoys from the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Spain and Portugal are urging Mr. Chavez and his opponents to settle their differences in negotiations brokered by the Organization of American States.

Meanwhile, opposition leaders who called the national strike December second to pressure Mr. Chavez to step down, say they will ease the work stoppage because of the damage to businesses and jobs. However, the protest will continue in the vital oil industry.

www.thevistaonline.com

Editor's Note: These stories would not have been possible without the guidance and help of Lizette Galindez Silva.

by Mark Schlachtenhaufen February 02, 2003

For most students, the biggest worries are finding the time to study for a test or deciding what to do over the weekend.

Carlos Espinel, who graduated from UCO in December, is weighing the biggest decision of his life: whether or not he will return to his homeland of Venezuela and join the opposition coalition working to have President Hugo Chavez removed from power.

Espinel's original plan to go home by February or March has been postponed. Espinel said if he hasn't found a job by June -- he earned a master's degree in business administration -- he will return to Venezuela, against the advice of friends.

"At this moment, I don't want to march," Espinel said.

"If I do not have a job by June, I will go back. The situation is very hard for all of us because we don't have a clear future."

If he returns, Espinel said he would participate in special events organized by the opposition by helping provide food for example. He could provide financial support, or assist with the production of newsletters.

Espinel said he is aware of the consequences of his future actions. Since unrest in Venezuela erupted in April 2002, dozens of people have been killed.

"Anytime you participate in an event, you take a risk to receive a gunshot or something like that," Espinel said.

Espinel said the future of Venezuela is worth the risk.

Since Chavez entered office in 1998, Venezuela has been transitioning from a social democracy into a communist state, Espinel said. If Chavez had his choice, Venezuela would have a communist-type regime and would face political and economic isolation, he said.

"We receive a lot of [advice] from Cuba," Espinel said. "If we take out Chavez, what would be our relationship with Cuba in the future?"

Espinel's mother and father live in Caracas. His mother is a homemaker. His father is a retired retailer. The general strike, while adversely affecting the economy, has not disrupted their day-to-day lives too much, Espinel said.

Others tell different stories. One of Espinel's two brothers lives in Caracas and was recently told not to come to work for a month; there is nothing for him to do as a result of the strike. When Caracas residents fill their cars with gasoline, they wait in line up to 10 hours. A two-liter bottle of Coke costs $3 on the black market, where gas may also be found.

Some canned foods, beer and even Big Macs are now hard to find, since McDonald's franchises recently joined the strike.

"Most of them are closed," Espinel said.

Mail delivery has also been slowed greatly. The last week of November, Espinel mailed some Christmas gifts, destined for family members in Venezuela. As of Jan. 23, the gifts had still not been received, Espinel said.

Espinel said his brothers are "very upset" about the situation in Venezuela. He communicates weekly with his family members by telephone and on the Internet. He gets current news about the crisis from Internet newspapers.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is trying to broker a peaceful resolution to the crisis. One solution would be through a Constitutional amendment to shorten President Chavez's term to four years. The other would lead to a recall referendum in August.

Espinel said due to Constitutional provisions, the outcome of the referendum would be that Chavez would step down and the vice president would become the president, a prospect that concerns Espinel.

The vice president is Chavez's right-hand man, Espinel said.

What does the future hold for Venezuela?

"At this moment, we do not know," Espinel said.

www.voanews.com VOA News 02 Feb 2003, 22:41 UTC

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has declared victory over a grueling two-month national strike aimed at his ouster.

President ChavezDuring his weekly news program, Mr. Chavez said his government had secured "a popular victory" over his political foes. He again promised to punish strike organizers for attempting to destroy Venezuela.

But his opponents were far from conceding defeat Sunday, as thousands of Venezuelans across the country lined up to sign a petition demanding early elections.

Under the constitution, organizers need signatures from 15 percent, or about 1.8 million people, of the country's registered voters to call early elections.

Earlier, organizers of Venezuela's opposition strike said they will ease the work stoppage because of the damage to businesses and jobs. But, they say the strike will continue in the vital oil industry.

The opposition campaign follows an appeal by a six-nation "Friends of Venezuela" group, for a democratic, electoral solution to end the crisis. Envoys from the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Spain and Portugal are urging Mr. Chavez and his opponents to settle their differences in negotiations brokered by the Organization of American States.

www.sacbee.com By STEPHEN IXER, Associated Press

Published 2:59 p.m. PST Sunday, February 2, 2003 CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - 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 in his weekly television and radio program. "We have beaten once and for all a new destabilizing attempt, a new malevolent and criminal attempt to sink Venezuela."

But opposition leaders - who accuse Chavez of ruining the economy with leftist policies and trying to accumulate too much power - were far from conceding defeat.

Thousands waited hours in the tropical sun Sunday to sign petitions at tables across Venezuela in support of various measures renouncing Chavez's government and seeking his ouster.

Four people were injured, including two police officers, when Chavez supporters threw stones, fireworks and tear gas canisters near two petition tables in downtown Caracas, police chief Henry Vivas said. A car belonging to a private, local television channel also was set alight.

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.

Under the constitution, organizers need signatures from 15 percent, or about 1.8 million, of the country's 12 million registered voters - a number they expect to surpass easily.

"We're looking for the fastest way to get out of this crisis," said Freddy Hurtado, 56, an advertising agent who complained of poor business even before the strike began. "Given that the president is the cause of the crisis, we're going to get rid of him with our signatures."

The amendment was one of two proposals made by Nobel Peace Prize winner and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. The other calls for a recall referendum on Chavez's rule halfway through his six-year term, in August.

Chavez has indicated he is open to both solutions, but said Sunday he never would give in to his opponents, whom he labeled "coup-plotters, fascists and terrorists." He vowed to hold strike leaders accountable in the courts and again threatened private media outlets, which he accuses of supporting opposition efforts.

Oil makes up a third of Venezuela's economy and provides half of government income. Before the strike, Venezuela was the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and a major supplier to the United States.

The strike has cost the nation at least $4 billion in lost oil revenues alone by government estimates. The Santander Central Hispano investment bank has warned that the economy could shrink by as much as 40 percent in the first quarter of this year.

The extent of a continued work stoppage in the industry was unclear. Some 35,000 of the oil industry's 40,000 workers originally joined the strike, but the government has said most of them are back at work.

Most small businesses never joined the strike, and many companies that closed because of security concerns have reopened their doors in recent days. Those that remained closed - including factories, malls and franchise restaurants - were urged to open this week for restricted hours, strike leaders said.

europe.cnn.com Sunday, February 2, 2003 Posted: 2337 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) -- Hundreds of thousands of foes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez signed a petition calling for early elections on Sunday, while the leftist leader declared victory over a two-month opposition strike and demanded punishment for its organizers.

The signing campaign, organized as a nationwide poll, was the latest opposition challenge to the populist president nine weeks into a grueling strike which has failed to oust him but has crippled the oil-reliant economy.

One opposition leader, Antonio Ledezma, said he expected more than 4 million signatures backing a petition requesting a constitutional amendment to shorten Chavez's rule and trigger immediate elections.

But there was no independent confirmation of the numbers and the poll was privately organized by foes of the president.

State oil firm employees whose walkout slashed output and exports since December 2 in the world's No. 5 oil exporter were maintaining their stoppage in the vital petroleum industry.

But a confident Chavez announced that oil production was fast approaching 2 million barrels per day (bpd), around two thirds of pre-strike levels. Oil strikers put output lower, just over a million bpd, but they acknowledged it was rising.

Opposition leaders have scaled back the strike in non-oil areas. Shops and businesses across the country, many facing bankruptcy, have already reopened. Private banks and schools are also resuming normal operations.

"There is no strike here. We faced a terrorist coup plan and we've already defeated it," left-wing former paratrooper Chavez said in a broadcast on state radio and television.

He called on opposition leaders to abandon their efforts to oust him. "You've been defeated, recognize it," he said.

But leaders of the stoppage in the oil industry vowed no let up. "We will continue with the strike until our objectives are achieved," sacked state oil executive Juan Fernandez said.

Venezuela's oil-reliant economy is reeling from the impact of the strike and the government has announced stringent budget cuts and foreign exchange controls.

As Chavez spoke, opponents turned out in large numbers to cast a symbolic vote against his rule, which marked its fourth anniversary Sunday. They crowded polling points around the country to sign petitions seeking early elections, condemning the president and supporting defiant oil industry strikers.

The president said his government had scored a "popular victory" over the strikers, whom he called "terrorists."

"I demand in the name of the people the application of implacable justice against the traitors of the nation," he said in his weekly radio and television show, "Hello President."

His call for punishment could complicate international efforts to broker a solution to the crisis, which has rocked oil markets already nervous over a possible U.S. war on Iraq.

A potential major obstacle to a political agreement on elections is the fate of striking employees of the state oil giant PDVSA, more than 5,000 of whom have been fired.

Opposition leaders are demanding they be reinstated as part of any negotiated deal, but Chavez, who has replaced them with troops and loyal personnel, has refused an amnesty.

A "group of friends" appealed Friday for a peaceful end to the conflict through elections. Envoys from the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Spain and Portugal urged Chavez and his opponents to settle their differences in ongoing negotiations brokered by the Organization of American States.

Near one opposition polling point in Caracas, police fired tear gas and shotgun pellets to disperse Chavez supporters who pelted petition signers with stones and fireworks. Two policemen and two other people were slightly injured.

To trigger the constitutional mechanism for an early poll this year, the opposition needs to collect the signatures of at least 15 percent of the nation's nearly 12 million voters -- around 1.8 million signatures. Chavez rejects early elections, saying the opposition must wait until August when the constitution would allow a binding referendum on his rule