Hundreds of thousands demand Chavez steps down

Venezuela’s largest labour group has threatened to call a general strike to oust President Hugo Chavez, as hundreds of thousands marched through the streets of Caracas to oppose his rule.

Carlos Ortega, head of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation, said yesterday’s march by an estimated 600,000 people proved that Venezuelans want ‘‘Mr Chavez to abandon the presidency’’.

Mr Ortega told thousands of protesters holding a vigil outside a Caracas military base that his organisation, which includes thousands of state workers, could call an indefinite strike. He refused to say when a decision would be made.

A general strike held in April led to an opposition march on April 11 in which 18 people were killed, many allegedly by pro-Chavez gunmen.

The bloodshed prompted generals to oust the leftist Chavez on April 12. Chavez was restored to power on April 14 after an interim government abolished the constitution.

Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans - labourers and business executives, leftist and conservative parties - marched yesterday to remember the victims of April 11. Caracas police chief Emigdio Delgado estimated the crowd at 600,000 people.

After the march, government and opposition leaders accused one another of trying to provoke chaos - underscoring the political divide that grips this South American nation and global oil exporter.

Luis Francheschi, head of the National Assembly’s labour committee, accused Mr Ortega of sabotaging government-sponsored reconciliation talks.

‘‘The government is the country’s biggest employer. A strike of this magnitude can only be intended to collapse the government,’’ Mr Francheschi said.

‘‘The government is completely certain of its stability,’’ said interior minister Diosdado Cabello. ‘‘We have no doubts about our popular support.’’

Yesterday’s march followed a peacemaking mission this week by former US President Jimmy Carter. Mr Carter’s efforts were rebuffed by opposition groups, including Mr Ortega.

Opponents says Mr Chavez, a former paratrooper who staged a failed 1992 coup and was elected in 1998, cannot govern the country, which is mired in recession. They are organising a referendum that will seek to shorten his term, which ends in 2007.

The government and the opposition accuse each other of provoking the April violence.

Investigations into who committed the killings have stalled.

Mr Chavez told a military ceremony in the central city of Maracay that April 11 ‘‘was a dark day in our history when a privileged minority plotted to overthrow the constitutional government and install tyranny’’.