Economy & Trade, Headlines, Labour, Latin America & the Caribbean

LABOUR-VENEZUELA: General Strike to Continue Wednesday

Andrés Cañizález

CARACAS, Apr 9 2002 (IPS) - The general strike declared Tuesday by Venezuela’s leading labour and business organisations against the government of Hugo Chávez, which enjoyed less support than the first nationwide stoppage, held last December, will continue Wednesday.

The Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV), the country’s main central trade union, and Fedecamaras, the largest business federation, announced that the strike may be extended “indefinitely” to confront Chávez’s “presidential authoritarianism” and to force him to stop turning a “deaf ear” to their protests.

In separate statements, CTV president Carlos Ortega and the head of Fedecamaras Pedro Carmona announced that the strike would be prolonged, and complained of the lack of dialogue with the government.

Neither expressly mentioned that they were seeking Chávez’s removal, but it was clear in the streets that his resignation was the main objective of supporters of the strike.

Meanwhile, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued a communique Tuesday urging the government to put an end to “the arbitrary use of nationally broadcast media messages as an indirect means of restricting the right to receive information.”

After receiving a complaint from human rights groups, the IACHR rapporteur on freedom of expression denounced “excessive use” of the law that obliges all media outlets to broadcast the government’s messages to the nation.

“Over the past two days, the government has used the mechanism on more than 30 occasions, lasting 15 to 20 minutes each,” stated the communique.

The labour strife and work slowdown in the Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) oil monopoly, on which this South American country of 23 million relies for 80 percent of export revenues, served as the background for the general strike.

Things were quiet in various parts of Caracas, although many shops and small businesses remained open and public transport functioned normally. However, there were less people in the streets than on a normal weekday, IPS found on a tour of several areas of the city.

Fedecamaras, with CTV support, held the first general strike against the embattled Chávez on Dec 10. On that occasion, the business community was demanding the repeal of a number of laws that the government had passed using special powers granted by parliament.

The strike was initially organised for Apr 18, but the CTV moved it forward to capitalise on the conflict in the PDVSA, where management and office workers are disgruntled over the appointment of a new board of directors.

Javier Elicheguerra, the owner of a printing press on the east side of Caracas that stayed open Tuesday, told IPS that he did not agree with the strike, even though he was opposed to the Chávez administration.

And a street vendor in downtown Caracas, which was busier than other areas because public offices and the central offices of banks – all of which operated normally – are concentrated there, said “if I don’t work, I don’t take anything home, so I have to work.”

IPS also found that gasoline supplies were normal – a key element, because on Apr 4, when the dissident PDVSA management, administrative and technical staff began to hold work stoppages, cars stood in long lines outside gas stations, and some shortages were seen.

Defence Minister José Vicente Rangel said Tuesday that oil was being refined, distributed internally and exported normally in Venezuela, the world’s fourth largest exporter of crude.

Rangel spoke from the Amuay refineries located in the state of Falcón, one of the biggest complexes of its kind in Latin America. Other officials also visited key oil industry installations to check on how PDVSA was functioning.

The PDVSA work slowdown has so far mainly affected the administrative running of the company, although activity in the El Palito refinery was also interrupted for three days.

“The strike failed. The oil industry is working, and the basic (state-owned steel and aluminum) companies have not been paralysed, nor has public transport,” said Chávez, who went out into the streets and visited several lower-income neighbourhoods in Caracas.

Political analysts said the lower level of adherence to Tuesday’s strike compared to the Dec 10 stoppage was due to a lack of prior preparation caused by the decision to move it forward, and to opposition to the CTV among some sectors, including other trade unions.

The Federation of Public Employees did not openly join the strike, which deprived the stoppage of the possible support of one million workers.

The employees of the Central University of Venezuela, the country’s biggest university, also went to work. However, many private schools and colleges closed their doors.

Public services, especially transport, functioned as usual. “Air traffic was normal” at the airport of Maiquetía, near Caracas, reported the airport’s director-general, José Vielma.

The La Bandera land transport terminal in Caracas also functioned normally, authorities there told IPS.

The president of the Caracas Union of Subway Workers, Francisco Torrealba, confirmed that subway employees had not joined the strike.

CTV president Ortega claimed that 80 percent of the country had adhered to the strike, while the government declared the measure “a failure.”

Vice-President Diosdado Cabello said the stoppage was a political action organised by groups that wanted to see Chávez removed, and did not involve labour grievances and demands.

Meanwhile, the government and the strike organisers engaged in a peculiar media war throughout the day. The government produced an onslaught of nationally broadcast messages and speeches, while coverage by the privately-owned media focused mainly on industries and companies that took part in the strike.

Lawyer Juan Rafalli, the head of a local civic group, complained that the government was committing “an abuse of power” by constantly interrupting regular programming with its nationally broadcast addresses.

“The government has kidnapped media time, keeping the population from learning about what is really happening. That is an irrational and disproportionate use” of the media, he said, announcing that his group would file a lawsuit with the Supreme Court against the government’s excessive use of that mechanism.

 
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