Strike fallout
The week's news at a glance.
Caracas
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez this week threatened to jail the leaders of a two-month strike that has crippled the nation’s economy. Hordes of government opponents returned to work this month after failing to force Chavez to step down or call early elections. Only workers at the state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela have held out. Chavez has fired 9,000 oil workers in an effort to get fuel production—the country’s largest source of income—back to normal. “Fired is nothing!” Chavez said. “Many of them should go to prison for sabotaging the Venezuelan economy.” More than 100,000 people demonstrated in Caracas, the capital, in support of the fired employees.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Home Depots are the new epicenters of ICE raids
In the Spotlight The chain has not provided many comments on the ongoing raids
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?
Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
The pros and cons of banning cellphones in classrooms
Pros and cons The devices could be major distractions