***** Venezuela army chief condemns strike
General's criticism is major boost for Chavez
Tuesday, December 17, 2002 Posted: 10:07 AM EST (1507 GMT)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Opposition hopes for military disobedience to Hugo Chavez dimmed after Venezuela's army chief criticized a 15-day-old strike aimed at forcing the president to quit or call early elections.
Gen. Julio Garcia Montoya urged citizens to distrust opposition leaders mounting "an aggression against the survival of the country that oversteps democratic boundaries," offering the armed forces' clearest position yet on a general strike that has disrupted oil exports in a major U.S. supplier.
Garcia Montoya criticized protests that blocked Caracas highways and roads Monday. He said in a televised speech that "society is strengthened through its reconciliation and not through its conflicts."
His message Monday was a slap in the face to opposition leaders who have pleaded with the armed forces to disobey Chavez's orders to prevent strikers from breaking the law. Chavez has relied heavily on the military to break the strike, deploying troops to guard gasoline stations, commandeer delivery trucks and seize striking oil tankers....
<http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/americas/12/17/venezuela.strike.ap/> *****
"Venezuelan Army Chief Backs Chavez Amid Strike," _VOA News_ 17 Dec 2002, 10:35 UTC, <http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=E362A28B-B735-488D-92FF0EC7BC08A617>.
"Venezuela's Army Commander Supports President," <http://www.dw-world.de/english/0,3367,1429_W_715834,00.html>. -- Yoshie
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