Venezuelans lined up by the thousand today to sign a petition calling for the ouster of President Hugo Chavez, a day after opposition leaders called off a bitter, two-month strike to oust him.
"We have completely defeated a new attempt at destabilization, a new spiteful, criminal attack to sink Venezuela, the government and to end with the state," Mr Chavez said during his weekly radio show Hello, Mr President.
But opponents also claimed victory, saying that the strike begun on December 2nd had served its purpose and that they will remove Mr Chavez by petition.
"I am going to sign because this step will strengthen us, so that the president sees that we are not a minority of the rich against him," economist Ms Fulvia Vivio said.
She stood in line at one of 3,400 tables set up around the country, where thousands of eligible voters waited their turns in a festive atmosphere.
The petition is part of a deal to end the strike brokered by diplomats and former US president Jimmy Carter.
Opposition leaders agreed to end the strike in the private sector, but will not loosen their grip on the all-important state-owned oil company, PDVSA.
The action has crippled the oil sector, whose daily production was 2.8 million barrels per day before the strike. But President Chavez said today that production had reached 1.8 million barrels per day.
Opposition leaders want 11 million eligible Venezuelan voters to sign on to several plans to oust Mr Chavez, through a non-binding vote, a constitutional assembly and a constitutional provision that allows the president to be recalled after the half-way point in the six-year term.
The mid-point recall, for Chavez, could come as early as April 19th, and it is the only vote he has said repeatedly that he will accept.
Opposition business, labour and political leaders launched the strike over what they say is Mr Chavez's autocratic style, and especially his decree of 49 controversial laws governing the economy, 47 of which petition-signers are also demanding be rescinded.
The opposition deposed Mr Chavez for less than 48 hours in an April coup. Since that time, the Organization of American States and Mr Carter have attempted to bring government and opposition together.
That happened last month, after the United States, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Chile and Brazil formed the "Group of Friends of Venezuela" to broker a deal.
Opposition leaders planned to put schools, shops, grocery stores and industry back into operation during the coming week, as well as stepping up the street demonstrations aimed at pushing Mr Chavez out of office.
The strike has caused Venezuela billions of dollars in losses, largely because it slashed oil shipments from the world's fifth largest oil exporter.
About 30,000 volunteers collected signatures Sunday. At least 20 percent of the electorate must sign the petition for election authorities to approve the mid-term recall vote, under the constitution.
However, opponents wanting to remove Chavez sooner than the mid-point recall are also collecting signatures for a non-binding vote to take place before August 19th.
Opposition leaders planned to deliver the signed petitions to the Organization of American States, the United Nations, the Carter Center, the European Union and the countries making up the "friends" of Venezuela.
AFP
