TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
Area Venezuelans Gather In Protest Of Hugo Chavez
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: April 12, 2008
TAMPA - On the sixth anniversary of a Venezuelan coup that briefly removed President Hugo Chavez from power, Chavez opponents across the Bay area protested the controversial leader Friday.
Mobilized by a Facebook alert, Lucia Pineda and her mother, Maria, came from Clearwater. They held aloft a sign portraying Chavez with devilish horns.
"I don't agree with Chavez. I think he's having a negative influence on a lot of countries," said Maria Pineda, 47, who left Venezuela with her children seven months ago. She said she once worked for the National Assembly of Venezuela but was forced out by threats from the Chavez regime.
She and her daughter held the sign up for motorists at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Himes Avenue. It read, in Spanish: "Castro-Chavez: Diabolical Duo."
Venezuelans who left the country long before Chavez first was elected in 1998 came to protest. An organizer of the Tampa event, Norma Camero Reno, has lived in the Tampa area for 22 years. Similar protests were held in cities across the country.
"On April 11, 2002, President Chavez was removed from power only to return 48 hours later. Those were 48 hours of joy and 48 hours of sorrow," Camero Reno said to the group of about 50 demonstrators.
"Today, we're telling Chavez that we don't want him any more as president, thanks for your service, that it wasn't worth a thing, and that now your time is running out."
A 2006 Census Bureau survey estimated 2,653 Venezuelan natives were living in Hillsborough County and 697 in Pinellas. Venezuelans had support Friday from the area's larger Hispanic groups: mostly Cubans, Colombians and Puerto Ricans.
Victor Gutierrez, 69, came to show solidarity. He left Cuba in 1967, after eight years under the Castro regime.
He fears more of the same as Chavez pushes Venezuela toward socialism. Chavez announced Wednesday that he would nationalize the country's largest steelmaker. Last week, it was the cement industry. He's also nationalized Venezuela's largest telecommunications and power companies, and took control of major oil projects.
"I know what it's like," Gutierrez said. "The system ruins everything. There's no food. No freedom of the press. No freedom of anything. Now, there's a lot of Venezuelans coming here because of the way the system is there."
Maria Asuncion Lopez Jimeno of Tampa was born in Puerto Rico. She supports the Venezuelan protesters' cause because she fears Chavez's influence is spreading across Latin America.
"Eventually, this affects everyone, because censorship is spreading," said Lopez Jimeno, who said she supports freedom of speech for the anti-Chavez protesters and for those who support Chavez as well.
"Humanity has come too far to accept these types of restrictions. They have no place."
Reporter Karen Branch-Brioso can be reached at (813) 259-7815 or kbranch-brioso@tampatrib .com.
Post a comment
(Requires free registration.)
* Keep it clean
* Respect others
* Don't hate
* Don't use language you wouldn't use with your mom
* Use "Report Inappropriate Comments" link when necessary
* See Member Agreement for details
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
Reader Comments
Posted by ( ndk ) on April 12, 2008 at 8:06 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Just a few points to remember: Chavez was elected in a fair election (democratic)by a majority of the citizens. The 'coup' mentioned in this article was organized by the U.S. CIA. It failed because THE PEOPLE protected Chavez, threw out the US approved 'leader' and brought Chavez back. Chavez wanted to serve another term and HAD A VOTE to decide if he could change their term limit. The vote failed and he accepted the matter. THAT IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( normacr ) on April 12, 2008 at 8:41 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
How easy it is to comment on Hugo Chavez when you are not living in Venezuela, when you are not going through the disasters that venezuelan people are. No food, no work, no money no freedom and no hope. People who like chavez and Castro's regime should go back there and help them make democracy dissapear completely. These people do not care about anybody but themselves. For these comments pro chavez just one word "go back home" and stay there. Don't come back to this country where is freedom, democracy and secure rights for all.
Report Inappropriate Comments
Posted by ( BrianMoore ) on April 12, 2008 at 7:17 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
We, as Americans, are at home. Our criticisms are of those Venezuelans, Colombians, Cubans and Puerto Ricans who protest Chavez and Castro as if they live there and know better. No, you live here, yet fail to see the very loss of freedoms that Americans suffer in this country; plus the fact that President Bush, ironically, is the real dictator, a tyrant and acts in a fascist manner---as if he is above the law. Castro and Chavez have replaced dictators, and are serving the poor and most citizens on a more equitable basis than their predecessors. Socialism is more democratic and egalitarian than capitalism; and socialism operates on a basis of cooperation, not greed, exploitation and profiteering, as is done here in the USA and other capitalist countries.
Report Inappropriate Comments