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STRATFOR.com
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THE INTERNET SOURCE FOR GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE
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Venezuela: Violence Awaiting Anti-Chavez Protesters?
April 11, 2002
As of midday April 11, a protest march involving some 50,000 to 80,000 Venezuelans demanding the resignation of President Hugo Chavez was advancing on the Miraflores presidential palace, the Union Radio broadcast network and Globovision television reported from Caracas. However, pro-Chavez Bolivarian Circles, senior government officials and members of the National Assembly were rallying in the streets around Miraflores with the intention of stopping marchers in their tracks.
Image Credit: l'Agence France-Presse (AFP).
If the Caracas Metropolitan Police and National Guard fail to keep these two groups apart, a violent confrontation could erupt, causing deaths and injuries on both sides. Moreover, such a confrontation could compel Chavez to decree a state of exception. This likely would worsen Venezuela's political crisis, since labor and business leaders have vowed to launch a national campaign of civil disobedience if civil liberties are suspended.
The march to Miraflores was being led by the Venezuelan Workers Confederation (CTV), which represents more than 1 million workers, mainly from the public sector. CTV leaders were trying to whip up anti-Chavez sentiment in an effort to force the president to resign. In fact, Jesus Urbieta, a member of the CTV's executive committee, told Union Radio that Venezuela "is in a classical pre-insurrection situation" and said the CTV plans to "increase the number of public mobilizations" against Chavez in coming days.
(The Rest of the Story)
(c) 2001 Stratfor, Inc.
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Venezuela: Violence Awaiting Anti-Chavez Protesters . . . ?