The strike was sparked by the appointment of five new board members by the President Chavez, which the demonstrators argued was based on political affiliations rather than professional merit.

President Chavez who swept into power on a wave of support for his "revolution" that aimed to eliminate poverty by using the nation's oil revenue, has dismissed the protest and has even threatened to use the army to takeover the oil company if oil supplies were threatened.

Currently representatives from the government and the company are in negotiations over a new compromise proposal however it looks like it far from resolution. "We have no problem sitting down at the negotiating table however we are not taking a backward step as far as the appointment of these five is concerned," commented a dissident spokesman.