Annan Urges Venezuelans to End Impasse Lawfully

reuters.com Tue January 14, 2003 01:09 PM ET

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday urged Venezuelans reeling from a crippling strike to use only lawful means to resolve their differences and said he wanted to help calm the situation.

"I will be seeing President Hugo Chavez here on Thursday ... and I hope to be able to discuss with him the developments in Venezuela, and how one can intensify the mediation efforts, to calm the situation and return it to normalcy," Annan said.

"I have had the chance of speaking to him several times on the phone, and he knows I believe one should use constitutional and democratic means to resolve this issue, and this is my message not only to him, but to the opposition," Annan told a news conference.

An opposition strike, started on Dec. 2, has deeply shaken the government and Venezuela's oil industry, stoking tensions between Chavez and his political foes, who are demanding he resign and call immediate elections.

Chavez, who survived a brief coup in April, has rejected demands for an early vote.

The shutdown has slashed Venezuela's oil exports, causing widespread domestic fuel and food shortages and jolting world energy markets.

Notorious on Wall Street for his failed economic policies and anti-capitalist rhetoric, Chavez was elected in 1998 vowing to wrest control from the country's corrupt elite and enact reforms to help the poor.

But opposition has grown amid charges the president wants to establish a Cuban-style authoritarian state.

Chavez was officially coming to U.N. headquarters to attend ceremonies turning over Venezuela's leadership of the "Group of 77" developing nations to Morocco for 2003. The group has 134 members.

He was due to hold a news conference after his talks with Annan.