Posted on 7-1-2003

Chávez Won't Give In
By Ginger Thompson, NYT, 5 Jan03

Venezuela's foreign minister said today that the government regretted the
violence that erupted Friday during a march against President Hugo Chávez,
and acknowledged that the monthlong strike aimed at forcing Mr. Chávez out
of office had taken a serious toll on the nation's economy.

But the minister, Roy Chaderton, accused strike leaders — particularly
executives at the state-owned oil company — of shutting down the heart of
this nation's economy in an effort to overthrow the government. He also
insisted that Mr. Chávez would not give in to opposition calls for early
elections. "Democracy cannot be subject to the rises and falls in the
polls," Mr. Chaderton said, referring to Mr. Chávez's declining approval
ratings. "So, just because today is a bad day is not a reason to call for
immediate elections and to pressure with violence, to paralyze a country,
and strangle the economy just to force out a president." "It is true that
this government has made many mistakes," the minister said. "But errors in
a democracy are paid in elections, within the norms of the Constitution."

On Friday, a protest by Mr. Chávez's opponents turned into a street fight
that lasted most of the day. Tens of thousands of opposition demonstrators
marched toward a military base to demand the release of a dissident general
who was a leader of a failed coup last spring and urge the military to
support the strike. Supporters of Mr. Chávez confronted the marchers, and a
fight ensued. Later, shots rang out. Newspaper reports said two men, one 22
and the other 24, were killed and five other people were wounded by the
gunfire. Dozens of others suffered injuries from rocks thrown by the
battling protesters and from rubber bullets and tear gas fired by national
guard troops.

The streets of the capital returned to calm today, and an estimated 20,000
supporters of Mr. Chávez turned out to demonstrate their support for the
government.

Mr. Chaderton said Mr. Chávez was trying to prevent a repeat of a coup
attempt last April, when the Venezuelan president was forced by the
military to leave office for 48 hours after a violent protest outside the
presidential compound. He suggested that the opposition, frustrated that it
had not been able to force Mr. Chávez out of power, had begun provoking
violence as a way to turn up the pressure on him. But Mr. Chaderton said
this effort, like last year's coup attempt, would fail. "Despite the
problems, the country is moving forward except for the oil industry, which
has been hit the hardest," he said. "But the country is going forward. The
stores are open. People are going to work.