Marchers Back Work Stoppage in Venezuela

Tens of thousands of protesters marched on the state oil monopoly Monday to support a strike aimed at toppling President Hugo Chavez, hours after opposition demonstrators clashed with police in western Venezuela.

Marchers held up flashlights, candles and torches in the darkness as they poured into Caracas on highways connecting the capital with various suburbs.

Earlier Monday, national guard troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets at several dozen protesters whose march across a bridge in western Venezuela had blocked the only connection between oil refineries on the eastern and western sides of Lake Maracaibo.

Pro- and anti-Chavez demonstrations have taken place almost daily during the strike, which was called by business and labor groups and opposition politicians Dec. 2 to force Chavez to resign or submit to early elections. They say Chavez’s leftist policies and autocratic style have ruined the economy.

The National Elections Council has accepted an opposition petition for a nonbinding referendum in February asking Venezuelans whether Chavez should resign. Thousands of Venezuelans registered Monday for the possible vote, although Chavez has said he won’t honor it.

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel earlier urged a holiday truce. But the opposition rebuffed his informal appeal.

“What response do you expect from a people who this regime considers an enemy? The people are speaking, but this regime is deaf,” union leader Carlos Ortega, a Chavez opponent, told reporters.

Peace talks brokered by the Organization of American States have failed to prod the government and opposition toward ending the standoff. OAS chief Cesar Gaviria held talks again Monday but with little progress. New talks are scheduled Thursday.

Chavez, who survived a coup in April, has rejected calls for an early vote. Massive protests, rallies and violent street clashes have rattled the South American nation since the coup. At least 60 people were killed during the April uprising before loyal troops restored Chavez to power.

Many businesses have reopened despite the strike, but the work stoppage has closed down state oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela, paralyzing an industry that provides more than 70% of the country’s export revenue. Venezuela is the fifth-largest oil supplier in the world.

The nation’s constitution allows a recall vote halfway into a presidential term, which would mean August for Chavez, who was elected in 1998 and reelected in 2000 to a six-year term.

Oil prices soared past $31 a barrel Monday and hit two-year highs because of the crises in Venezuela and Iraq. Venezuelan oil production has dropped from about 2.7 million barrels a day to less than 300,000. Gasoline is scarce, disrupting transport of non-oil goods. Ports are closed.

Nobel Peace laureate and former President Carter, who tried to mediate government and opposition talks in July, warned of increased violence if the strike continues much longer.

“The current situation of scarcity of supplies and political confrontation increases the likelihood of imminent violence,” he said.