|
VENEZUELA
Chávez
announces government
measures to deal with the
opposition strike
ACCUSATIONS
that owners of food businesses and private TV
companies are backing the opposition’s intention
to bring down the Bolivarian Revolution abounded in
Hugo Chávez’ program on Sunday, January 12,
reports Prensa Latina.
In his
“Aló, Presidente” program, the Venezuelan
leader warned that the state is ready to face the
opposition and has the regulations and laws
established in the National Constitution on its
side.
He
confirmed that the armed forces are under orders to
occupy processing plants and silos in an effort to
end food shortages, because he would not allow the
people to go without this necessity.
Venezuela’s
president added that if those responsible for the
crisis do not halt their actions, he would sign a
decree - supported by the power vested in him by the
Magna Carta and current legislation - ordering
military control in those food production centers.
This is an echo of what is now taking place in the
oil industry.
Chávez
also recalled that the persistent economic sabotage
by certain bank owners would carry a large fine and
even a government takeover if they refuse to pay it.
The
National Telecommunications Commission has begun
proceedings against the country’s four largest TV
channels, accusing them of conspiring to create a
fascist coup via a ferocious anti-governmental
campaign employing falsehoods and destabilizing
elements, he explained.
President
Chávez accused Gustavo Cisneros, wealthy owner of
the Televén channel, of “pulling conspiratorial
strings from within the United States and of
establishing the central command of last April’s
coup d’état in his station office.”
REJECTS
ATTACKS ON CUBA
From
the port of Guira, Vargas state, Chávez rejected
the continued attacks on Cuba by the Venezuelan
opposition and the huge private media. He likewise
referred to their slanderous statements concerning
Cuba-Venezuela bilateral cooperation, confirming:
”We sell oil to Cuba under the same conditions as
we do to other Caribbean nations. We don’t give
anything away, and it would be more accurate to say
that Cuba is the one that is giving many things to
us.”
Chávez
centered his analysis on the free medical services
in Cuba offered by the island to thousands of sick
Venezuelans, thanking the Cuban people and their
government for their mutual aid, noted PL.
OPPOSITION
MARCH IN CARACAS ENDS WITH INCIDENTS
On
Sunday, January 12, participants in an
opposition-sponsored march tried to force a security
barrier in a military zone which resulted in some
lamentable incidents that left around 30 people
slightly injured, according to AFP, AP and PL
dispatches.
Prensa
Latina stated that a few thousands of the marchers
reached the area of Paseo de los Próceres, the
location of the Ministry of Defense and other
military installations. However, a security corps
made up of the National Guard, the Military Police
and the Caracas Police, stopped them at some 500
meters from this restricted area.
There,
PL continues, a group of the march organizers were
allowed to move on to the monument to independence
fighters where they placed a wreath. However,
various demonstrators tried to cross the security
cordon formed by the Military Police, and were
repelled by teargas and shotgun pellets.
For
its part, AP reported that various persons with
symptoms of asphyxiation were attended to, as was an
El Mundo daily photographer injured by
pellets, but none of them seriously injured.
An AFP
note recorded opposition statements that it intends
to further radicalize its position and persist in
the idea of toppling Chávez, via the seven-week old
strike begun on December 2 or a non-binding
referendum envisaged for February by the National
Election Commission.
In
this context, the Venezuelan leader emphasized on
January 12 that to remove the government in a
revocation referendum, “the opposition will have
to win the total plus one of the almost four million
votes I received during the mid-2000 elections that
legitimized my mandate for six years.
“If
anyone wants to bring forward the elections, they
have only to propose an amendment to the
constitution and present it to the National
Assembly,” added Chávez. “If it is approved,
then it must be voted on by the people in a
referendum, and if it wins in that way I will go.
That is the only way that I’ll go. That is
democracy - it is the people who rule.”
|
