Thousands march for Chavez

2003-08-23 22:39

Caracas, Venezuela - Tens of thousands of President Hugo Chavez's supporters marched through the capital on Saturday to help the leftist leader counter a renewed opposition push for a referendum on ousting him.

Blowing whistles and chanting "Oh, no! Chavez won't go!" government backers marched from two points in eastern and southern Caracas toward a downtown avenue, where Venezuelan leader was slated to address the crowd.

Hundreds on roaring motorcycles led the masses of "Chavistas," as the president's backers are known, while Venezuelan folk music blared from loudspeakers mounted on trucks. One banner read: "Chavez until 2021."

Many came from other parts of the country to join the marches, which were called to show Chavez's foes that he still commands support among the nation's poor majority.

"We are poor and we back the president," said Yaritza Alfaro, a 38-year-old housewife who was convinced the opposition push for an early vote on Chavez's rule would not succeed. "We won't permit a referendum."

The march formed part of a week-long celebration touting government social programs that have convinced many Chavez is their only hope.

Opponents marched by the hundreds of thousands this week and delivered more than 2 million signatures demanding the vote.

Undaunted, Chavez is plowing ahead with his "Bolivarian Revolution," an amalgam of socialism and free market that seeks to benefit the country's poor majority.

Under Chavez, Venezuela has lurched from crisis to crisis and could soon see more upheaval as the opposition presses for a recall. Critics label him a power-hungry populist whose social agenda comes second.

Yet Chavez has survived a 2002 coup and a two-month general strike this year. His standing among voters - about 30% by most polls - is enhanced by programs directed at the poor.

More than 900 000 illiterate adults are getting free reading and writing classes using methods developed in Cuba. Cuban doctors work for free in Caracas slums.

More than 300 000 people have received government loans to start small businesses. A land reform program has given more than 13 000 citizens land titles. Indigenous people have gained unprecedented constitutional rights, including the right to own their land.

At an encampment on a Caracas boulevard where soldiers sold food at cut-rate prices, Jesus del Carmen Vivas said it was something more personal than a cheap bag of food that sold her on Chavez.

At a rally two years ago, the single mother of five grabbed the president's arm and pleaded for justice for her 9-year-old daughter, who had been raped.

Days later, the government sent lawyers to help her pursue the criminal. The man is still at large. But the gesture gave Vivas unshakable faith in the president.

"I just have to talk to Chavez again," she said. "I just haven't had time, being both a mother and a father for my children."

Chavez's personable style - and a lack of an equally charismatic challenger - have persuaded millions that he is their only hope, even as Venezuela plunges deeper into misery under his administration.

Opposition leaders accuse Chavez, who was elected in 2000 after rising to power in 1998, of dividing this South American nation along class lines.

- AP