US-Venezuela,0314

By Associated Press, 1/10/2003 12:13

WASHINGTON (AP) The Bush administration is engaged with other nations in the hemisphere in talks to explore ways to end the five-week strike in Venezuela that has crippled oil exports, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Friday.

''We remain deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation in Venezuela,'' Fleisher said.

He said the administration was working with the Organization of American States and member nations to explore ways to peacefully end the standoff between the government of President Hugo Chavez and his opponents.

OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria has been quietly discussing options with other OAS states, including formation of a ''Friends of Venezuela'' group ''to help the Venezuelans find a solution,'' Fleischer said.

The Washington Post reported in Friday editions that the United States was putting aside its reluctance to get involved in Venezuela's internal affairs and readying an initiative to form a group of nations to try to end the deadlock.

The initiative may be rolled out next week, the newspaper said. It said the proposal's immediate goal would be to end the opposition-organized strike.

The group would seek to develop a compromise calling for early Venezuelan elections and building on OAS mediation efforts already under way, the newspaper said.

''It's in the early stages,'' Fleischer said when asked about the news account and the U.S. role in seeking a breakthrough. ''An electoral solution is the direction the United States sees.''

The strike has paralyzed the Venezuelan economy and brought its vital oil industry a top U.S. supplier and once the world's fifth-largest exporter to a virtual halt.