June 20 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Venezuela's Social Christian Party said the country's opposition should hold a presidential primary to select one candidate if President Hugo Chavez loses a binding referendum on his presidency later this year.

Social Christian Party President Eduardo Fernandez said a primary would be open to all Venezuelans opposed to Chavez, and would be the best and most open way to select a candidate.

A primary would allow Venezuela's opposition, which is united only by its members' dislike of Chavez, to avoid splintering and fielding more than one candidate, analysts have said. Polls have repeatedly showed that Chavez would easily be defeated if he faces only one opponent.

Chavez would lose a referendum on his presidency by 38 percentage points if a vote were held today, El Nacional reported, citing a poll by Consultores 21.

The May 17-27 poll of 1,500 Venezuelans found that 66 percent would vote for Chavez to leave office, while 28 percent would cast ballots for him to stay. Eight percent were undecided.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, June 16, 2003 By: Caare W

Date: Sun, 15 Jun 2003 15:41:57 -0400 From: Caare W caarew@hotmail.com To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: Venezuela deserves better

Dear Editor: That previous governments have failed, can never be an argument to let a hopeless regime continue.

The last week there's been a debate here at VHeadline.com about whether human rights organizations didn't care about Venezuela before Chavez came to power ... in other words: Whether they can be suspected of taking action now because they have some interest in campaigning against the Chavez-regime.

In "If President Hugo Chavez Frias were a communist or a dictator..." one of the participants in the debate wrote: "My question was, and remains, where were the human rights organizations during those decades?" (The decades prior to Chavez).

The answer is that they were in Venezuela. For example Amnesty International concluded a visit in 1996 with a report named "Venezuela: Amnesty International delegation ends visit with disappointment and alarm."  In 1997 Amnesty reported: "Dozens of prisoners of conscience were detained during the year. Scores of people, including children, were extrajudicially executed in the context of police and army operations ostensibly aimed at combating crime. At least 25 prisoners burned to death in a prison in Caracas. Torture and ill-treatment by the security forces were widespread and some people died as a result of torture. Prison conditions remained extremely harsh. Most perpetrators of human rights violations continued to benefit from impunity."

So as is now evident, human rights organizations were in Venezuela during these years too ... meaning that when they now report that the situation is worse than ever, they do that with a high level of credibility and integrity. They investigated both previous regimes and the current. The sad fact is that things were bad before, and they are even worse now.

One can keep talking about how bad the situation was before Chavez ... and some of what is said is correct ... but this can't excuse that Chavez hasn't been able to make Venezuela move in the right direction. He has promised and promised, but hasn't kept his words. I have no higher wish than that he had succeeded in constructing a better society ... but I don't believe that will ever happen.

My conclusion is therefore that Mr. Chavez is unfit to be the President of Venezuela. It is not because I'm an oligarch ... it is not because I hate him ... it is not because I believe that the poor doesn't deserve better ... it is just simply because I think he is a catastrophically bad President, and I see no hope of improvement with him still in power.

• That the opposition failed in previous years, can't be an argument to hold on to a hopeless President. Venezuela deserves much, much better than both Chavez and previous Presidents.

Unfortunately much of the debate is not rational, because there are so many accusations and insults thrown between people with different views of the situation.

So please: Let's put aside our assumptions about those who don't agree with us. Let's listen to those who oppose us. Let's introduce some mutual respect to this debate.

Regards, Caare W. caarew@hotmail.com

IHT, By Juan Forero NYT Thursday, June 12, 2003   This gritty, working-class district in the western end of metropolitan Caracas, with its jumbled brick homes and towering housing projects, is said to be fiercely loyal to President Hugo Chavez and sharply opposed to those who call for his removal. But in a two-story, nondescript building in the heart of Catia, in a dank room with fluorescent lights and bare walls, a group of political activists are plotting subversion. Here, Jose Uzcategui, 32, and other activists of First Justice, a political party usually associated with young, affluent professionals from the eastern end of Caracas, talk strategy: Where to go door-to-door to register prospective turncoats who will one day vote against Chavez. What political pitch to make to people who had found resonance in Chavez's class-based rhetoric? The tactics, while low-key, represent a sea change from the past for a large but unwieldy opposition out to end Chavez's tumultuous rule. The president's foes had loudly and publicly claimed the poor were largely opposed to the left-leaning president, as they started a failed coup and four national strikes that devastated the economy. But now, with Venezuelans preparing for what may be their last shot at ending Chavez's presidency - a referendum that could take place later this year - the opposition is taking small, tentative steps to strike a chord with the poor. The strategy is crucial since the government has already begun aggressive efforts to reinforce its support by registering voters and ratcheting up small-scale social programs. "We want the people to hear from us what we are about," said Uzcategui a butcher shop owner who lives in a poor barrio and recently joined First Justice. "We want people to know there is an opposition in the barrios." It has not been easy, though. Many people in poor neighborhoods openly reject Democratic Action and Copei, the two corrupt political parties that had ruled Venezuela for years and form important components in the anti-Chavez coalition. "They are seen as spoiled rich kids," said Ronny Silva, 29, who lives in a Catia but opposes Chavez. "There a lot of blind people over there. They need to start offering realities." Many poor Venezuelans also openly distrust individual opposition leaders, whom they view as part of a privileged class that greatly benefited from a succession of Venezuelan governments until Chavez won election in 1998. To many of the poor, Chavez remains a viable option, even if Venezuela's economy is crumbling. "That is Chavez's strength, and until this day it continues to be this way," said Ana Maria Sanjuan, a sociologist at the Central University in Caracas. "Just like the opposition claims Chavez has excluded them from his political decisions, the poor claim Chavez has included them." The sharp divide between many of the poor and the opposition - a gulf Chavez helped create with his high-octane rhetoric - has made it particularly difficult for some government foes to freely express themselves in the hillside slums where the president still has strong support. The threat of violence has, indeed, staunched political activism. Three weeks ago, in a rally in Catia held by Democratic Action, one person was killed and more than 20 injured when gunfire broke out. Though it remains unclear who was responsible, some people in the opposition, including the former secretary general of Democratic Action, say the party was largely at fault and may have provoked the violence. Democratic Action had touted the rally as the "re-conquest" of Catia. "We told them this is not the way to go into that sector, but they rejected what we said," said Arquimedes Espinoza, coordinator of ProCatia, a community organization in Catia that is opposed to Chavez. "The way to go in is to first understand the problems of the people." While loud, raucous anti-Chavez protests are common in the affluent east of Caracas, such rallies can backfire in the poor west. Instead, activists say they prefer to go door to door, taking time to explain their party's position. Political gatherings are often only convened after a neighborhood has been staked out, to ensure there is a welcoming atmosphere. A key is avoiding hard-line government supporters, whom opposition leaders say can react violently to outsiders. "We have people working in Catia, but they must go underground," said Henrique Salas Romer, a former governor who has broken with the opposition coalition and is considered a leading presidential contender. "We are not making any noise." Still, political parties and a host of community organizations opposed to Chavez have started to gear up political activities in poor districts in preparation for the referendum on Chavez's rule. Though a date has not been set, Chavez and his adversaries last month agreed to hold a vote that will ask Venezuelans whether they want him to continue in power. The New York Times

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 By: David Coleman

Opposition politicians are being driven to distraction by presumed delays at the Supreme Tribunal of justice (TSJ) where they lodged an appeal Monday on the legality of last Friday's convened El Calvario congress.  Globovision is heading it as "no hurry" in the TSJ, "no hurry" for the CNE and "no hurry" for the Assembly, after it was announced that judge Jesus Eduardo Cabrera has been assigned the case seeking the El Calvario session to be declared null and void.

Meanwhile the designation of a new board of directors to the National Electoral College (CNE) hasn't even got off the ground and the TSJ appears to be hell bent on preserving its own dignity by covering every microscopic detail to avoid a situation where they will automatically be labeled "Chavista" should the government win the war of words.

The major complaint now is that Cabrera is suggesting a rather lengthy legal process which the opposition sees as stone-walling a solution to the political stand-off.  Globovision adds, rather menacingly, that it's going to be lengthy "at least by legal means..."

Cabrera says the initial probate period will be 10 working days and then a further lapse of 30 days for it to be passed to the Constitutional Chamber, and then some, to arrive at a ruling...  This means there is every possibility the process by which the CNE board can be designated will have to wait until October.

The opposition is insisting that they want to get a revocatory referendum underway as of August 19, but are now experiencing the rewards of their own filibustering, foisted by their own petard and with every likelihood that the El Calvario congress will be declared legal albeit exceptional.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, June 11, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The Christian Socialists (COPEI) has gone to the Attorney General's Office asking for protection during the opposition "Assault on Petare" scheduled for Friday, June 13. 

Miranda State Legislative Assembly deputy, Oscar Perez says he does not care that Sucre Mayor Jose Vicente Avalos has not given permission for the rally clearly aimed at provoking government supporters in the area. 

"The rally will go on because it is the voice of more than 900 barrios and urbanizations in Petare that have nothing to thanks President Chavez Frias' Revolution for." 

Citing Petare's ills, Perez cites 54% poverty and 126 homicides in Q1, Perez de Leon and Domingo Luciani hospitals in a bad way and absolutely no social programs. 

Perez has confirmed that 3,000 Metropolitan (PM) and Miranda State Police will be on duty to prevent violence. 

Executive Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel suggests that the rally should be held elsewhere to avoid public order unrest. "The right to protest is a democratic rights but it can never be above the right to life."