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<<<<"What's going to happen to us humble, poor people? President Chavez helped us. The country is divided between rich and poor," said Jose Delgado, a 45-year-old cobbler.>>>> 10 percent rich -- 90 percent poor. Barry Stoller wrote: > > Reuters. 13 April 2002. Venezuelan Slums Seethe at Chavez's Overthrow. > > CARACAS -- The sprawling slums of Venezuela's capital seethed with rage > on Saturday at the military coup that toppled populist President Hugo > Chavez as his political backers struggled to regroup and organize > protests. > > A wildly gesticulating group surrounded a Reuters crew at a market in > the grimy working-class neighborhood of Petare, shouting that they would > fight back. > > "There's going to be a civil war here. The people are going to rise up," > yelled Antonio Orellana, 65. > > With the fiery former paratrooper in military custody, his supporters > said they would try to take their seats in the National Assembly for a > scheduled session on Monday even though the new military-backed interim > government has decreed the parliament's abolition. > > "We say this is a coup d'etat and that it is a lie that Chavez has > resigned," said Willian Lara, who had been president of the National > Assembly, talking to Reuters by telephone from a hiding place. > > He said he feared for his safety and that he had narrowly escaped > arrest. > > There has been no word whether Chavez has been charged with a crime, but > he was arrested and taken to a Caracas military base on Friday and has > been kept incommunicado. Lara said he had since been transferred to the > Caribbean island of La Orchila, but no military spokesman confirmed > this. > > The United States, which had long been irritated by Chavez's friendship > with Cuba and worried about his control of the world's fourth-largest > oil-exporting nation, has said that it does not consider his overthrow a > coup. Instead it blamed his government for triggering its own downfall > by ordering gunmen to fire on Thursday's protest. > > Venezuela is now a deeply divided country. > > "Those who toppled him are thinking, decent people. It's the will of the > people which was legitimized by the military action," said Adolfo > Freites, a 49-year-old lawyer, speaking to Reuters in an elegant square > in Caracas' upscale Altamira district, an anti-Chavez bastion. > > But in the slums surrounding Caracas, spreading over dusty hillsides, > Chavez is more of a hero than ever. > > Local news media, which are passionately anti-Chavez, have largely > ignored the reaction of Venezuela's poor majority. > > "What's going to happen to us humble, poor people? President Chavez > helped us. The country is divided between rich and poor," said Jose > Delgado, a 45-year-old cobbler. > > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > > Barry Stoller > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews > > > --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B 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 ==^================================================================
