CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Venezuela's opposition announced Monday evening that they were extending their one-day general strike for an as-of-yet unspecified period.
Carlos Ortega, president of Venezuela's largest labor union, the CTV, said the opposition would not confirm how long the strike is likely to last for reasons of strategy.
He said the CTV, business association Fedecamaras and the political opposition had decided to extend the strike in response to government harassment and intransigence.
Their industrial action is intended to force leftist President Hugo Chavez to call new elections or to accept a referendum on his government. The opposition accuses Chavez of creating divisions in Venezuela with his left-wing rhetoric and of presiding over an economic collapse.
The strike received a mixed response Monday. Many businesses and shops closed their doors but the country's crucial oil and mining sectors both operated normally.
State-owned oil and gas producer PDVSA, which accounts for around 80 percent of national exports, reported business as normal, despite absenteeism by many senior managers.
A spokesperson for PDVSA's petrochemicals subsidiary Pequiven told United Press International that around 80 percent of managers and administrative staff from company headquarters had stayed home, but that this had not affected production.
The largest companies in Venezuela's important mining sector also reported that the general strike had not affected them so far.
A representative of the country's largest mining and metals producer, the state-owned Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana, or CVG, told UPI that "the company's operations are proceeding normally" and that every worker had showed up for work.
Major steel producer Sidor also confirmed to UPI that its operations had not been affected by Monday's strike. "There are no problems here, everything is normal, both on the administrative and productive sides," a company spokesperson said.
Chavez had earlier urged Venezuelans to ignore the strike call. Speaking Sunday on his weekly TV show 'Hello President,' he said the strike was "totally absurd" and was an attempt to destabilize the country.
A previous general strike in April ended in a short-lived coup against Chavez by dissident military officers and business leaders who intervened after gunmen shot and killed 19 opposition demonstrators.
The president was restored to office two days later by loyal troops in the midst of giant demonstrations by his supporters.
Government figures called on the opposition to call off its strike Monday and to return to the negotiating table. The Organization of American States is sponsoring a dialogue process between the two sides, but talks have been canceled while the strike takes place.
The government has described the strike as illegal and has threatened to prosecute employers who close their doors on the grounds that this contravenes their workers' right to employment.
