It wasn't the first time that newly elected opposition Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma had hit a hitch at the apparent best of the government, and it may well be not the last either.
Ledezma, who's victory at the elections on November 23 clearly caught the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) by surprise, found that some sort of problem at the Finance Ministry meant he wouldn't be able to pay his 30,000 municipal employees. Officials said that Ledezma's predecessor, Juan Barreto of the PSUV, had not handed over the annual accounts at the transfer of power, as stipulated by the law. More critically, Ledezma then announced that neither had the ministry handed over the required funds. There seemed to be some sort of problem with the cash flow there, he added.
Whether or not this was just another bureaucratic hitch, in the circumstances it was sufficient to prompt suspicions that something amiss was afoot, and perhaps even on purpose. If this was an attempt to stir up trouble between Ledezma and his new employees, at best it only partly worked. One group of workers got into the building and said they were taking it over.
Afterwards, Caracas Prefect Richard Blanco said that a "very small group" he dismissed as "some individuals" had gotten into the building "in an absurd manner" and once inside, they'd damaged computers and other equipment. Another 4,000 employees on the former Chavista payroll can't seem to be accounted for as they don't seem to be around -- or perhaps don't even exist.
Other individuals showed rather more rationality and, perhaps, less emotion – or, suspicion was, political motivation. Orlando Ruiz, leader of the municipal workers' union, said the funds hadn't been released to meet the payroll. While he had some sympathy for the protesters, he said that taking over the facilities would also deprive the authorities of the means to follow the procedures required to make payment. This group went to the root of the problem – the Finance Ministry. There, they demanded that the funds be handed over.
Ledezma had said he'd been waiting since December 23 and was still waiting. A confirmed report said Tuesday that the ministry had finalled transferred BsF49 million at almost the end of the day.
The scenes at the municipal palace were reminiscent of what happened when Ledezma first tried to enter his offices after being sworn in as mayor. On that occasion, he ran into rowdy protesters who were smashing widows and shouting they weren't going to work for him. Ledezma then tried to hold a first meeting of the newly elected council at a building that used to house the old Supreme Court. The building had been used for this purpose during the last eight years – when the city council was under PSUV control.
The National Guard barred him from entering, saying the building was closed. There was no explanation of who had ordered the measure, but the finger of suspicion pointed at the Interior and Justice Ministry. City Hall itself has the feel of a building under siege. Its ground floor is shuttered and the art deco facade is splattered with multicolored graffiti. ''We are bad losers,'' is one phrase favored by the graffiti artists.
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