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CNN Sunday Morning
Residents of Venezuela Hit Hard by Strike
Aired December 29, 2002 - 09:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: In Venezuela, gas is normally cheaper than water. And that is no surprise for the world's fifth largest oil exporter, but political turmoil has changed that and Venezuela is now importing gas, while its residents wait for hours in long lines hoping for a few gallons to keep their cars running. Lucia Newman has more from the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The line starts at the gas station on a major avenue, but winds down a narrow residential street. It goes on and on until it turns again onto a wider street; 420 cars when we stopped counting. Back at the pump, the ordeal is finally over for one woman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I waited eight and a half hours with a baby. I had no one to leave him with.
NEWMAN: Others are less lucky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When we arrived at the pump, the attendant said, sorry, we're out of gas, and I had waited from 1:00 in the afternoon until 6:00 in the morning the next day.
NEWMAN: This man has been waiting outside a gas station with no gas for two days. Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Because we're hopeful it will finally arrive.
NEWMAN (on camera): A locked and empty gasoline pump. Something as unthinkable in a country like Venezuela as the fact that at this very moment, it's being forced to ship in gasoline from neighboring Brazil, something equivalent to importing sand to the Sahara Desert.
(voice-over): Unbelievable but true, in a country where people are used to driving eight cylinder gas guzzlers, where gasoline is cheaper than water, buying fuel today is a nerve-racking experience.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I smoke like a maniac and chat with the people around me.
NEWMAN: The only option is to buy gas on the now flourishing black market, at 10 to 15 times the normal price.
Who do people blame? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The government, and only the government, not the striking oil workers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I protest and I am furious at the strikers, because they're violating our rights as Venezuelans.
NEWMAN: Gas isn't the only thing drying up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No beer is like having no water for Venezuelans. And to find any, you have to look everywhere.
NEWMAN: This store owner says deliveries aren't coming in because of the fuel shortages, and the fact that many producers have joined the strike.
A strike which some applaud, others detest, but which no one is enjoying.
Lucia Newman, CNN, Caracas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 29, 2002 - 09:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: In Venezuela, gas is normally cheaper than water. And that is no surprise for the world's fifth largest oil exporter, but political turmoil has changed that and Venezuela is now importing gas, while its residents wait for hours in long lines hoping for a few gallons to keep their cars running. Lucia Newman has more from the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The line starts at the gas station on a major avenue, but winds down a narrow residential street. It goes on and on until it turns again onto a wider street; 420 cars when we stopped counting. Back at the pump, the ordeal is finally over for one woman.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I waited eight and a half hours with a baby. I had no one to leave him with.
NEWMAN: Others are less lucky.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When we arrived at the pump, the attendant said, sorry, we're out of gas, and I had waited from 1:00 in the afternoon until 6:00 in the morning the next day.
NEWMAN: This man has been waiting outside a gas station with no gas for two days. Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Because we're hopeful it will finally arrive.
NEWMAN (on camera): A locked and empty gasoline pump. Something as unthinkable in a country like Venezuela as the fact that at this very moment, it's being forced to ship in gasoline from neighboring Brazil, something equivalent to importing sand to the Sahara Desert.
(voice-over): Unbelievable but true, in a country where people are used to driving eight cylinder gas guzzlers, where gasoline is cheaper than water, buying fuel today is a nerve-racking experience.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I smoke like a maniac and chat with the people around me.
NEWMAN: The only option is to buy gas on the now flourishing black market, at 10 to 15 times the normal price.
Who do people blame? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The government, and only the government, not the striking oil workers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I protest and I am furious at the strikers, because they're violating our rights as Venezuelans.
NEWMAN: Gas isn't the only thing drying up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No beer is like having no water for Venezuelans. And to find any, you have to look everywhere.
NEWMAN: This store owner says deliveries aren't coming in because of the fuel shortages, and the fact that many producers have joined the strike.
A strike which some applaud, others detest, but which no one is enjoying.
Lucia Newman, CNN, Caracas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
