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AFP (with additional material by Reuters). 13 October 2002. Chavez supporters respond with own march to ultimatum dealt by opponents. CARACAS -- At least a million supporters of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez joined in a march Sunday, six months after the president was temporarily ousted in a coup, and following mass calls for his resignation earlier this week. Himself present at Sunday's march, Chavez estimated that two million people had joined in to support him. On a stage mounted in Bolivar Avenue, where the march led to, the words: "Respect for the Constitution. 'No' to pro-coup blackmail" were written. Blowing whistles and wearing mostly red, the color of Chavez's self-styled "Bolivarian Revolution," Sunday's marchers chanted slogans in support of the populist president as they streamed through poor neighborhoods in western Caracas. Mobbed by supporters, Chavez, who wore a red jacket, described the rally as "a human river" and said it was a clear response to Hardline foes who wanted to force him from office. "If some minority sectors of crazy oligarchs don't want to understand, then the people have the power to impose their will," Chavez said. Despite escalating anti-government street protests and swirling coup rumors, Chavez insists he still enjoys support from the majority of Venezuelans, most of whom live in poverty in a nation racked by inequality and social tensions. "If there are elections, we'll still win," Chavez supporter Edith Soto, a 36-year-old textile worker, told Reuters on Sunday. "We are the majority," read one banner carried by the demonstrators. "This is an unquestionable democratic fact, in the same way that the opposition march on Thursday was," Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said. "The difference is that in the other there were coup-plotters," Rangel said, noting that Sunday's demonstration was "the march of love, of dialogue -- the other one had dark aspects to it." "There is not going to be another coup or a strike or anything like that ... The people are in the streets and that is a warning to coup-plotters," Rangel told reporters. Chavez, who says his left-leaning reforms are aimed at reducing the power of corrupt and wealthy elites and at closing the gap between rich and poor, has told his foes they must wait until August, 2003 -- half-way through his current mandate -- to hold a referendum on his rule allowed by the constitution. "Chavez is driving them crazy," was the most popular chant yelled by the pro-government marchers Sunday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ProletarianNews http://www.utopia2000.org ################################################################# ################################################################# ################################################################# ##### ##### ##### ################################################################# ################################################################# ################################################################# --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu 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 ==^================================================================
