www.adn.com Organization of American States By KEN GUGGENHEIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (January 24, 4:15 p.m. AST) - Officials from the United States and five other countries urged Venezuelans to stop political violence and inflammatory rhetoric as a new diplomatic effort began Friday to end a violent strike that has crippled oil production in the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

The newly formed "Friends of Venezuela" group also agreed to send high-level representatives to a meeting in Caracas next week to help find ways to break the political impasse.

The opposition called the strike almost two months ago to press demands that President Hugo Chavez resign or call early elections. Opponents say Chavez's leftist policies have undermined business in Venezuela; Chavez's supporters say the opposition wants to bring down a democratically elected president who enjoys strong support among the nation's many poor.

"The problem of Venezuela is a problem of great urgency that requires therefore that we act immediately," Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who chaired the meeting, told reporters afterward.

In a sign of U.S. interest in a diplomatic resolution, Secretary of State Colin Powell attended the start of the closed-door meeting at the Organization of American States that also included officials from Mexico, Chile, Spain and Portugal.

Powell said the diplomats should work with two proposals made by former President Carter. One proposal is for a recall vote on Chavez to be held in August. The other would be to amend the Venezuelan constitution to allow early elections this summer.

"The Carter proposals represent the best path available to the Venezuelans. They provide the badly needed basis on which both sides can bridge their differences on the immediate issues," Powell said, in a text released by the State Department.

Venezuela's foreign minister, Roy Chaderton, told reporters his country was open to proposals that follow the country's constitution. He also agreed that both sides need to lower the tone of the political rhetoric but said: "We do need guarantees also, because we have a very violent and irrational opposition."

Chaderton said he would like to see the Friends group expanded eventually to include other friendly nations. Amorim said a possible expansion was not discussed at the meeting.

Miguel Diaz, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the talks at the OAS were critical.

"If this doesn't pan out, I think Venezuela is left to its own devices," he said. "I'm not sure the Venezuelans themselves will be able to find their way through this crisis without major bloodshed."

The United States has approached the latest Venezuelan turmoil gingerly. The Bush administration has little regard for Chavez, who has visited Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and is a close friend of Cuban President Fidel Castro. But after stressing the importance of democracy to the region, it doesn't want to be seen as undermining a constitutionally elected government.

The administration received sharp criticism for appearing to support a coup attempt in April. It has said it opposes any change in Venezuela outside the constitution.

Chaderton said he viewed the United States as "a good friend."

Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue research group said the April coup has caused the United States to take "more of a hands-off posture" to Venezuela.

"That's not an answer because the chaos is continuing," he said. "The United States is one of the few actors that could positively affect the outcome of this."

While the United States is seen as being able to influence Venezuela's opposition leaders, Brazil's new government, led by leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is seen as potentially influential with Chavez.

www.quicken.com Friday, January 24, 2003 10:51 PM ET  Printer-friendly version   A Wall Street Journal Online News Roundup

Americas markets finished lower Friday as war jitters weakened global markets amid reports the U.S. government had warned all citizens leaving overseas to be prepared to leave if necessary.

Although officials said the warning wasn't necessarily related to the Middle East situation, investors suspect the submission of a report on the state of Iraq's weaponry -- to be submitted by United Nations inspectors Monday -- could be a watershed moment in the standoff between Iraq and the U.S.

"Rumors that the U.S. will attack are playing on sentiment," said Fred Ketchen, managing director of stock trading at Scotia Capital Markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 2.9% Friday.

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 72.53 points, or 1.1%, to 6664.90, with nine of 10 stock groups closing lower.

The information-technology group was the only gainer, up 1.1% on positive earnings surprises from heavyweights Nortel Networks and Open Text. Networking company Nortel ended up 24 Canadian cents to C$3.90 while e-business services provider Open Text rose C$2.68 to C$42.38.

The materials group slid 0.4%, its decline mitigated by the gold sub-index's 2.1% surge. Gold prices rose to six-year highs above $370 an ounce in New York as investors flocked to the safe-haven metal. Barrick Gold ended 64 Canadian cents higher at C$26.00 and Placer Dome rose 17 Canadian cents to C$17.97.

Meanwhile in Mexico City, the key IPC index gave up 41.88 points or 0.7% to 6012.56. Brewer Grupo Modelo's C shares lost 2.5% to 23.78 pesos and financial group BBVA-Bancomer's B shares dropped 1.6% to 8.11 pesos.

In Sao Paulo, the main Bovespa index lost 3.4% to 10783.65. Brazilian oil giant Petrobras, which could be hurt by the cost of importing more expensive crude, fell 4.9% to 45.11 reals.

Among the few shares ending ahead were mining company CVRD, which rose 1.4% to 89.70 reals, and beverage company Ambev, which climbed 0.9% to 478.00 reals. Ambev announced a share buyback early Friday.

Finally, the Merval index in Buenos Aires closed down 10.34 points, or 1.8%, to 557.82 despite the decision by the International Monetary Fund's executive board to approve a debt rollover accord for the South American nation. The pact had already gained preliminary approval.

The IMF approved a deal that will roll over of some $6.8 billion in debt payments the South American nation owes the international lender between January and August. The deal could open the way to similar rollover accords for Argentina with the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Energy giant Perez Companc, which accounts for one quarter of the market, fell 4.2% to 2.30 Argentine pesos. The company continues to be negatively affected by the general strike in Venezuela, where the firm produces much of its oil.

www.voanews.com David Gollust State Department 25 Jan 2003, 00:58 UTC

Colin PowellSecretary of State Colin Powell joined Friday foreign ministers or senior envoys from Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal and Spain in a Washington meeting aimed at supporting efforts by the Organization of American States (OAS), to mediate an end to the political crisis in Venezuela.

The informal "Friends of Venezuela" group met behind closed doors at OAS headquarters in Washington. But in a text of his remarks released here, Mr. Powell said the situation in the oil-rich South American country is "grave" and growing worse by the day.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton, left, and Venezuelan OAS Representative Jorge Valero talk during the meeting of the newly formed "Friends of Venezuela" group

He again underscored U.S. support for the mediation efforts of OAS Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria who has been working on the issue non-stop for more than two months, and was to return to Venezuela after the meeting.

Mr. Powell said the two proposals tabled in recent days by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter for an electoral solution to the crisis represent "the best path available" to Venezuelans, and urged embattled President Hugo Chavez and his opponents to agree to one of them.

He said the "Friends" should send high-level representatives to Caracas as soon as possible to work with Mr. Gaviria, and said once the sides have agreed on a political process the six-nation group should set up a mechanism to monitor and ensure full implementation of the agreement.

www.guardian.co.uk

Anti-capitalist activists gather in Brazil as prospect of war gives fresh impetus to search for alternatives

Hilary Wainwright in Porto Alegre Saturday January 25, 2003 The Guardian

The nearest thing to a people's United Nations, the World Social Forum (WSF), opened yesterday in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre.

For four days the city, whose participatory method of administration has made it the United Nations' model of good government, will be host to more than 100,000 activists for peace and social justice.

The first WSF in 2000 was the brainchild of organisations involved in the anti-capitalist protests of the late 90s; they wanted to develop alternative ways of living.

"Protests are not enough," said Walden Bello, an academic from the Philippines and leading critic of the World Trade Organisation.

The event is held at the same time as the business-led World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in order to draw attention to the idea that, in the words of the WSF logo, another world is possible.

The choice of Porto Alegre was symbolic too. For 15 years the city's governing Workers party - which now rules Brazil through the leftwing President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva - has been deciding the budget through a process of popular participation, redistributing wealth, reducing poverty and eliminating corruption as a result.

It is the wholehearted involvement of the city administration in the running of the WSF that makes such an extraordinary event possible. The existence of a working experiment in Porto Alegre makes it highly practical for the discussion of participatory democracy, which is - along with social economics and alternatives to war - the main theme of the forum.

"I come to the forum to exchange experiences of democracy," says Alvaro Portillo, who was previously mayor of Montevideo in Uruguay.

The prospect of war has given an added sense of urgency to the search for alternatives.

A sign of this is the growth in participation from the US. In the first two years only a few academics and non-governmental organisations managed to find the funds to travel to Brazil. This year the US has one of the largest non-Latin American delegations, with nearly 2,000 attendees.

"If we are to end war, we need a new kind of globalisation, based on democracy and social justice," says Fred Ascate of the US group Jobs For Justice, which links community and trade union campaigns.

Porto Alegre is bursting at the seams. Every conceivable public space is occupied. Empty warehouses in the dockyards now resound to discussions of subjects such as empire, war and unilateralism, resistance to militarisation and debate on whether the World Trade Organisation can be reformed.

Some of the speakers are well known: Noam Chomsky, Arundhati Roy and Tariq Ali are there, as is the Brazilian president. The embattled leader of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, will address the event.

But it is no longer solely the big names that draw thousands of people to the forum. "Initially celebrities helped to give the event its legitimacy; now everybody recognises the WSF as the space for global alternatives," Luciano Brunet, one of the organisers, says. "It has a life of its own."

The diversity of the WSF, a hallmark of each of the last three years' events, illustrates that the left may at last have retained the tension of a good debate without the fractious infighting of old.

One of the most central of these debates is the relationship between civil society and political power. President Da Silva, now the embodiment of political power in Brazil, regards this gathering of civil society as an important ally.

After making his speech to the WSF, he is going to its business counterpart in Switzerland. "I will be taking the message of Porto Alegre to Davos," he said. "I will be saying the same thing as I say here. There will not be two faces. I will tell Davos that their economic policies are making a terrible mistake."

www.voanews.com VOA News 25 Jan 2003, 01:20 UTC

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is urging Venezuela's government and opposition to accept settlement proposals offered by former President Jimmy Carter to end a long-running general strike.

Secretary Powell made the remark Friday in Washington as he and officials from five other nations met to seek solutions to Venezuela's political crisis.

Mr. Powell said Venezuela's political crisis is "grave" and growing worse each day. He also said the Carter proposals represent the best available option to the Venezuelan people.

President Chavez has said he is open to the proposals put forth by Mr. Carter earlier this week in Caracas to end the opposition general strike that began December second.

One proposal calls for President Hugo Chavez's government and opposition to agree to a constitutionally acceptable recall referendum in August. The alternative proposal calls for a constitutional amendment to shorten the presidential term, allowing early elections this year.

In a related development, a high-level team from the "Friends of Venezuela" group is expected in Caracas next week to help find ways to break the political impasse.

The general strike has damaged Venezuela's oil-reliant economy and put upward pressure on global oil prices.