From: Barry Stoller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [L-I] Class struggle in Venezuela
Reuters. 20 November 2001. Venezuela President Vows Not to Yield to
Strike.
CARACAS -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez condemned as political
intrigue a nationwide strike called by business chiefs, and said on
Tuesday his leftist revolution would not be blackmailed.
Venezuela's most powerful business group, Fedecamaras, announced on
Monday it would ask its members to stage a 12-hour business shutdown on
Dec. 10 to protest the government's failure to consult with the private
sector on 49 key economic laws.
Fedecamaras President Pedro Carmona had singled out legislation to
regulate the petroleum sector and land ownership as statist and
interventionist, and said it would scare away investors from the world's
No. 4 oil exporter.
But Chavez said on Tuesday that Fedecamaras represented only wealthy
business elites and insisted the laws would benefit the poor majority of
the 24 million Venezuelans.
"This has a strong political component," Chavez said of the strike,
adding that Fedecamaras was allied with unions run by opposition party
Democratic Action.
"They are not going to blackmail me, I will not be pushed around by
anyone," Chavez said. "I am very clear in my mind about the part I must
play in the national history now."
Fedecamaras, which says it groups some 80 percent of Venezuela's 10
million strong workforce, will put the strike proposal to its general
assembly on Nov. 28.
Responding to Chavez's criticism, Fedecamaras chief Carmona said the
strike call was "high politics, but not partisan or self-seeking."
"We do not like the direction of these laws which will harm economic
development, wealth creation, business confidence, private investment
and which violates the rule of law," Carmona told reporters.
The veteran businessman said there was widespread support for the
planned stoppage. "Everything indicates it will go ahead unless the
government is willing to compromise," he said.
Ranchers, farmers and trade groups have already expressed support for
the stoppage, mainly to protest plans to limit land ownership and
confiscate idle property under the new Land Law.
Chavez defended the land reform law as the only means to avoid civil war
in Venezuela, which has one of the most uneven land distributions in the
Western Hemisphere.
Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso had told him that a
similar land redistribution saved that country from collapsing into
social conflict, Chavez said.
The populist president dismissed outcry from Fedecamaras that they had
not been consulted on the legislation.
"Of course, their position was taken into account ... but they are
trying to defend the indefensible," he said. "They want to defend the
interests of a minority, not the country."
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Barry Stoller
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
with continuing coverage of WWIII
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