Street protests escalate in Venezuela strike

P President Hugo Chavez calls the protests a "desperate" effort to oust him.

By Niko Price

The Associated PressCARACAS, Venezuela -- Marches aimed at ousting President Hugo Chavez's leftist government spread across Venezuela on Wednesday, with tens of thousands of people banging on pots and waving flags to support an indefinite general strike.

Under international pressure, strike leaders suggested they were ready to resume talks on early elections, but extended their strike for a fourth day. More businesses were open Wednesday, even as the strike began to affect production in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

More businesses opened as the strike wore on, but disruptions began to affect Venezuela's oil industry, the world's fifth largest exporter. A shipping agent claimed workers stopped loading tankers, and a tanker crew anchored off the western city of Maracaibo, refusing to deliver gasoline.

Chavez's government, however, insisted oil operations were normal. Thousands of Chavez supporters staged rallies in two downtown Caracas plazas.

Resuming talks

Opposition and government delegates met with Organization of American States Secretary General Cesar Gaviria to explore resuming talks on an electoral solution to the crisis.

Hopes for a solution grew after the national elections council voted 4-1 Tuesday to hold a nonbinding referendum on Chavez's rule on Feb. 2. Council members said their vote should overcome objections by the Supreme Court, which ruled last week at least four votes were needed.

The opposition threatened to intensify the strike.

"We ratify the success of this active strike, and if necessary in the coming days it will become even more active," said strike leader Carlos Ortega, president of the country's biggest group of labor unions.

Chavez, who canceled a planned trip to Brazil on Wednesday, has insisted that the constitution allows a binding vote only halfway into his six-year presidency, in August. He called the strike a "desperate" effort to oust him and said it would fail.

The OAS, the United Nations and the United States have urged both sides to avoid more political violence and resume talks. Pope John Paul II appealed Wednesday for calm and "authentic justice based on truth and solidarity."