HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ----- Original Message -----
From: Jose G. Perez
Sent: Sunday, December 09, 2001 11:49 PM
Subject:Venezuela's Chavez Blasts Planned National
Strike Venezuela's Chavez Blasts Planned National Strike By Daniel Flynn CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday on the eve of a planned nationwide strike that he might take strong measures if powerful elites tried to destabilize his emocratically elected government. Saying the 12-hour stoppage planned for Monday would only harden popular support for his leftist ``revolution,'' Chavez said he would not be blackmailed into changing a land law designed to strip rich landowners of idle property. The planned nationwide stoppage would be the largest protest against Chavez's three-year-old presidency, which has pitted rich against poor in the oil-rich South American nation. Venezuela is the world's fourth biggest oil exporter. Chavez, a former paratrooper who led a failed 1992 coup attempt before being elected president three years ago, said he might consider ``very strong measures'' if ``privileged elites try to upset the democratic process.'' He did not elaborate. ``Tomorrow we will show that no one can shut down Venezuela, no one can stop this revolution,'' Chavez said. He called on his supporters to attend a massive rally in the capital, Caracas, on Monday to back his government. ``They are awakening a force which is out there, the determination of the people to defend this revolution,'' Chavez said in a four-hour edition of his radio and television show ''Hello President.'' The planned strike to protest the government's lack of consultation on 49 controversial decrees, including the land law, has the support of the opposition-run media and unions. Accusing the president of riding roughshod over constitutional property rights, the leading business confederation Fedecamaras called the strike with the backing of the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers. ``Tomorrow is the strike against authoritarianism,'' declared the daily newspaper El Nacional on its front page on Sunday. Recent opinion polls showed Chavez's popularity had fallen sharply from 1998 levels. Amid fears of violent clashes between government loyalists and opponents, shops and businesses across the country are expected to shut down in Monday's protest. Banks, ministries and public offices will also likely be affected, although the crucial state oil industry has said it will introduce contingency measures to maintain normal operations. Responding to complaints from two callers about press criticism of his government, Chavez accused local media owners of ``abusing the liberty of expression.'' ``We have appealed to the morality of the media tycoons and asked them to behave reasonably, but they will not change,'' the president said. ``One possibility is to apply the constitution, and to that end we are drafting a media content law.'' Declaring himself the ``president of all Venezuelans, but especially the poor,'' Chavez has dismissed his critics in the business community as an avaricious minority defending its own economic interests. The planned stoppage would come just one day before a summit of 25 Caribbean nations on the Venezuelan island of Margarita, where Chavez will host Cuban President Fidel Castro and Colombian President Andres Pastrana, among others. ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://TOPICA.COM/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================ |
