Venezuelan Bank Shutdown to Escalate Strike Pressure

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, January 09, 2003

Venezuelan Bank Shutdown to Escalate Strike Pressure

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Venezuelan bank workers' unions announced on Wednesday a 48-hour suspension of banking services ina bid to further press their demands for President Hugo Chavez to resign or call a referendum on his rule.

The bank halt will start on Thursday, said Jose Torres, president of the bank workers' union federation, or Fetrabanca. Automated teller machines will be shut down, but banks will still process emergency payments, such as hospital and pharmacy bills.

Banks are already reducing their office hours to three during the unprecedented 38-day crippling strike, and the new bank decision on Wednesday sent more clients to stand in long lines outside banks to withdraw their money.

There are reports saying that some businesses have started to reject any form of payment other than cash.

Some banks located in western Caracas have their walls covered with graffiti reading: "Thieves," "The money is ours," or "Give usour money back."

After the stoppage was announced, lines formed at banks in the capital as clients rushed to withdraw cash before the weekend.

Venezuela's Central Bank said it would continue its operations but it was not sure whether the inter-bank foreign exchange marketwould be running on Thursday and Friday.

Battered by the news of the bank stoppage and continuing political turmoil, Venezuela's currency fell 13.8 percent to 1,699.90 bolivars to the dollar from 1,464.90 on Tuesday.

Directors of private banks opposed the union's action, but theyhave also ignored the government's call for them to restore normalbanking services.

The bank halt has added to the woes of Venezuelans who have been suffering from a shortage of food and gas supplies. Venezuelan Agriculture Minister Efren Andrades announced on Wednesday that the government will import about 600 tons of food from Uruguay and Colombia to meet domestic needs.

The products to be imported from Uruguay will include rice, processed meat, liquid and powder milk as well as cheese and othersupplies. Meanwhile, three Venezuelan Navy ships are due to arrivein the Colombian seaport of Barranquilla this week to collect rice,beans and other food staples which Venezuela is purchasing from Colombian producers.

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