<a href=www.voanews.com>VOA News 24 May 2003, 18:33 UTC

Unknown gunmen have fired on an opposition rally in Venezuela's capital Caracas, leaving one person dead and at least 17 injured. The wounded include two National Guard soldiers.

Police say the shooting Saturday occurred as hundreds of opponents of President Hugo Chavez marched through a narrow street in the poor neighborhood of Catia, a bastion of support for the populist leader. Authorities said the shots came from a housing complex that faced the street rally.

The violence comes one day after Mr. Chavez announced a political deal with his opponents to hold a referendum on his presidency later this year. Opponents accuse the former paratrooper of imposing an authoritarian rule that is ruining the economy of the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

Political rallies in Venezuela have been a frequent target of violence in recent months, and several people have been killed

May 24 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he will ask members of the Rio Group of 19 Latin American nations to allow Cuba's presence at the organization's annual summit next year in Brazil.

The Rio Group, which serves as a forum for cooperation among members, has excluded Cuba since its creation in 1986.

``Since the next meeting is in Brazil, I plan to consult all members of the Rio Group so that Cuba could take part, at least as a special guest, in our meeting,'' Lula, a former union leader, said in a press conference at the end of this year's Rio Group summit in Cuzco, Peru, 1,165 kilometers (725 miles) southeast of Lima.

In the two-day Cuzco summit, Rio Group presidents agreed in to support an accord between Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez's government and the opposition for a referendum. Presidents also called for the United Nations to push rebels to join peace talks in Colombia.

The Rio Group includes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The group doesn't have a permanent headquarters office and only works around annual presidential meetings. Last Updated: May 24, 2003 14:35 EDT

Sat May 24, 2003 03:54 PM ET By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela (<a href=asia.reuters.com>Reuters) - One person was killed and 22 wounded by gunfire that broke out during a rally held by foes of leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in a pro-Chavez district of Caracas on Saturday, officials said.

Three of the wounded were National Guard soldiers whose patrol came under fire in west Caracas as they took up positions in a security operation to try to prevent violence at the opposition protest.

"There are 22 people wounded by bullets and one killed," Caracas Fire Services Chief Rodolfo Briceno told Reuters.

Government and opposition representatives blamed each other for the shootings.

Gunfire erupted as several hundred supporters of the opposition Democratic Action Party held a rally in a narrow street in Catia, a poor, crime-ridden neighborhood that is a bastion of support for populist Chavez.

"In the middle of the event, there were several volleys of bullets, but the rally went on," Democratic Action leader Henry Ramos told reporters.

"We're not afraid. ... This country doesn't just belong to Chavez supporters, but to all Venezuelans," demonstrator Ana Maria Colmenares told Reuters.

Chavez's opponents accuse him of ruling like a dictator and of trying to install Cuban-style communism in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

Witnesses said some of the shots appeared to come from side streets where groups of Chavez supporters had gathered to shout insults at the opposition protesters.

The violence broke out a day after government and opposition negotiators announced they had agreed to a political pact to hold a referendum on Chavez's rule after Aug. 19.

The agreement aims to end months of often violent conflict in Venezuela over Chavez's presidency. He was elected in late 1998 and survived a brief coup last year.

STORM OF ACCUSATIONS

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel accused leaders of the opposition rally of deliberately provoking the violence. "This was a provocation, seeking deaths and injuries," he said.

Ramos denied this. "The death and the injuries are the responsibility of the government," he said.

In scenes of confusion and tension in Catia, the demonstrators, including some women and children, ran in panic as volleys of shots rang out. A Reuters correspondent at the scene saw one man, a motorcyclist, lying bleeding from a bullet wound in his neck.

Authorities had deployed 2,000 police and troops around the small rally in west Caracas, an area of sprawling hilltop slum neighborhoods which is dominated by Chavez supporters.

In the maze of narrow streets and jumbled houses, often crowded with people, it was difficult for police to determine where shots were coming from.

National Guard Caracas region commander Gen. Marcos Rojas told reporters that gunmen blocked a street with buses and ambushed three of his men, a sergeant and two soldiers, shooting all three. He said the attackers were members of the radical opposition party Red Flag.

It was not clear whether the violence might affect the formal signing of the referendum pact between the government and opposition, which is scheduled to take place next week in Caracas in the presence of Organization of American States Secretary General Cesar Gaviria.

At least 50 people have been killed, almost all by gunfire, in clashes between followers and foes of Chavez over the last 18 months. Several hundred more have been wounded.

Chavez, who has said he is willing to submit to the recall referendum allowed under the constitution, was attending a summit of Latin American presidents in Peru.

Sat May 24, 2003 12:07 PM ET CARACAS, Venezuela (<a href=asia.reuters.com>Reuters) - One person was shot to death and at least eight others, including three National Guard troops, were injured by gunfire as opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rallied on Saturday in a pro-Chavez district of Caracas, police and firefighters said.

Shooting erupted as several hundred supporters of the opposition Accion Democratica Party held an anti-government rally in a narrow street in Catia, a poor, crime-ridden neighborhood that is a bastion of support for Chavez.

Witnesses said some of the shots appeared to come from side streets where groups of Chavez supporters had gathered to shout insults at the opposition protesters.

Demonstrators scattered on several occasions as gunfire rang out.

A Reuters correspondent at the scene saw one man, a motorcyclist, lying bleeding from a bullet wound in his neck.

Earlier, three National Guard troops were shot nearby when a patrol came under fire from gunmen.

The violence erupted a day after government and opposition negotiators announced they had agreed to a political pact to hold a referendum on Chavez's rule after Aug. 19.

The agreement aims to end months of often violent political conflict in Venezuela over the presidency of the populist Chavez, who was elected in late 1998 and survived a brief coup last year.

Juan Forero, <a href=www.sfgate.com>San Francisco Chronicle-New York Times Saturday, May 24, 2003
Bogota, Colombia -- After six months of bitter negotiations, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and his adversaries have agreed to sign an accord that would lead to a referendum on his rule, officials on both sides said Friday.

The agreement, brokered late Thursday by the Organization of American States in Caracas, the capital, calls on both sides to end violence. It is likely to lead to a referendum this year after a new electoral board is chosen to oversee the vote.

The pact, to be signed Wednesday, does not provide a complete framework for how a referendum would be held. But it offers the prospect of calming months of tumult in Venezuela, a major oil exporter.

Uncharacteristically, the two sides agreed with each other on Friday and hailed the agreement, which is meant to help heal a nation badly divided over its president. Chavez, a former paratrooper whose support comes mostly from the country's poor masses, has made enemies with his leftist policies since his election four years ago.

"It is a reasonably good document," Alejandro Armas, an opposition negotiator, told reporters. He added, "From our point of view, there is reasonable satisfaction for the objectives reached."

In Peru, where he was attending a summit meeting of Latin American leaders, Chavez said the pact showed "that the opposition at last understands there is a constitution that must be respected."

Chavez was briefly toppled by a coup in April 2002. His adversaries, a coalition of businessmen, labor groups and private media companies, have staged four national strikes since December 2001.

The latest strike, a two-month walkout that began in December and ended in failure for the opposition, devastated the economy and temporarily shut down Venezuela's oil industry.

Opinion polls show that Chavez would most likely lose a referendum. Since the last strike, the economy has contracted by 29 percent, and a majority of Venezuelans tell pollsters they want a change. Still, Chavez enjoys an important level of support among the poor.