 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Dissident oil executives fired as Venezuelan strike enters 11th day©Associated PressDecember 13, 2002 CARACAS, Venezuela -- Using a tactic that has backfired in the past, President Hugo Chavez fired four dissident executives from Venezuela's state oil monopoly Thursday, setting off a rowdy protest by oil workers on the 11th day of a damaging general strike. Chavez had fired the same four executives and three others in April, triggering a general strike that helped provoke a coup. A conciliatory Chavez reinstated the executives after he was restored to power. But Thursday's firings showed the president was determined to break a strike that has shut down Venezuela's oil industry. The strike has crippled the world's fifth-largest oil industry, unsettling markets and creating concerns in the United States about heating oil supplies. Chavez opponents launched the strike Dec. 2, demanding a nonbinding referendum on his rule. Chavez has refused, and they now say they will end the strike only if he calls general elections. Hundreds of oil workers held a raucous assembly in a Caracas hotel to protest the firings. Leaders of the giant state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., denounced the firings and led chants of "Fuera!," or "Out!," to demand Chavez step down. Thousands rallied outside. "Not one step back!" fired PDVSA manager Juan Fernandez yelled. "We're going to keep striking until we have the freedom that we're all asking for." Chavez supporters also took to the streets. In one protest, dozens of "Chavistas" rattled the gates of a closed bank and set off firecrackers to demand it reopen. Police fired tear gas Thursday night to disperse a small pro-Chavez rally. On Thursday, the government fired Fernandez and oil executives Edgar Quijano, Horacio Medina and Edgar Paredes -- all leaders of the current strike. "These people are destroying the image that we have maintained for 100 years of being a secure producer and exporter," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said. "We have to calculate the terrible damage that has been done to PDVSA." Cesar Gaviria, secretary general of the Organization of American States, warned that continued food, water and gas shortages could spark riots. Gaviria, who is mediating talks between the sides, indicated talks made little progress Thursday. "Without a doubt, if we don't find a solution at the negotiating table, the streets will be the stage for the two sides" to meet, he said.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times wire desk Republican Convention
From the AP |
