According to the Associated Press (January 7, 2003):



Foes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, marching in their thousands in Caracas, tore up income-tax forms on Tuesday as they added a tax revolt to a five-week-old strike crippling the nation’s crucial oil exports….

“We are not going to pay taxes until this government goes,” 52-year-old housewife Belkis Soto told Reuters as she took part in the march….

The opposition, which has accompanied the strike with almost daily street protests, has called on individuals and firms to stop paying taxes, whether income or sales taxes.

[S]peaking at a school, [Chavez] warned his striking opponents their refusal to pay taxes was against the law. “They’ve tried to break the oil industry … now they’re trying to break the national treasury so there is no money,” he said.

Tax authorities say offenders face fines and prison terms ranging from six months to seven years.

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