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Reuters. 14 April 2002. Venezuela's Chavez conciliatory, supporters loot. CARACAS -- Fiery Venezuelan populist Hugo Chavez returned to the presidency in a conciliatory mood on Sunday after a failed military coup, but hundreds of his supporters celebrated by looting shops and attacking an opposition-dominated town hall. The Roman Catholic Church said security forces killed 23 people in riots on Saturday night, but there was no official word on casualties. State television said nine people died. Venezuela's Roman Catholic Church slammed the security forces for brutality in trying to put down pro-Chavez protests, many of which deteriorated into looting expeditions. "We energetically condemn the 23 murders which occurred during the night of April 13 in several poor areas of the city," said the Archdiocese of Caracas in a news release. Chavez's Vice President Diosdado Cabello said many of the populist's opponents had fled abroad in the past few hours. Wealthy parts of Caracas were very quiet, as the better-off stayed at home. Several dissident executives at state-owned oil company PDVSA, who had spearheaded last week's massive anti-Chavez protests, told Reuters they had gone into hiding. "There's a confrontation of social classes here. There's a lot of hatred," said 43-year-old worker Carlos Ibarra. Dozens of looters were still dragging away the few remaining goods of shops on a street in the middle-class eastern neighborhood of La Florida on Sunday. Police and National Guard troops stood by helplessly, not risking more serious disturbances by making arrests. "The people were worried because Chavez wasn't coming back and so we went to look for food," said a 30-year-old woman, who declined to give her name, as she prepared to carry away bags bursting with spices, cooking oil and other food items. "It's food for my kids," she said. The gritty Catia neighborhood, one of Caracas's largest slums, resembled a war zone on Sunday. Mile upon mile of shops had been sacked and their battered metal shutters were painted with "Nothing left here" or "Already looted." A slogan on a wall expressed the reaction of many poor Venezuelans to the U.S. position. "Yankees, game over. Yours lost," it said. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] 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 ==^================================================================
