Jimmy Carter Plan Seeks End to Venezuela Strike

asia.reuters.com Tue January 21, 2003 09:11 PM ET By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter on Tuesday presented to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his foes a plan for elections that seeks to end a crippling opposition strike in the world's fifth largest oil exporter.

The blueprint unveiled by the former U.S. president offered two options: one for an amendment to Venezuela's constitution that would trigger early elections and the other for a national referendum on Chavez's rule on Aug 19.

Both options, which were received by government and opposition negotiators Tuesday, foresee the lifting of the seven-week-old strike launched by opposition leaders to press the left-wing leader to resign and hold early elections,

The grueling shutdown has slashed output and exports by South America's biggest oil producer, pushing up world oil prices to two-year highs of more than $34 a barrel.

The 51-day-old oil industry strike showed signs of falling apart Tuesday when some oil tanker pilots in western Lake Maracaibo went back to work. Nevertheless, strike leaders said they were continuing the shutdown.

Chavez, a populist who led an unsuccessful coup attempt in 1992, was first elected to the presidency in 1998 and survived a brief coup last year, has refused to resign and says he will try to break the strike.

Opposition leaders said they hoped Carter's proposal, backed by international pressure, would give fresh impetus to faltering negotiations on ways to end the crisis, which is threatening to bankrupt Venezuela's oil-reliant economy.

"President Carter's weight and authority, combined with the international situation, could force the government to sit down and talk," opposition negotiator Alejandro Armas told Reuters.

More than two months of peace negotiations brokered by Organization of American States Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria have so far failed to produce a deal on elections, increasing uncertainty about Venezuela's economic and political future.

The bolivar currency tumbled 5.1 percent against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday. Moody's Investors Service cut Venezuela's foreign currency debt ratings, sinking the country deeper into junk bond territory because of uncertainty over the strike.

Raising fears of social unrest, the strike has led to shortages of gasoline, cooking gas and some food items.

ELECTORAL OPTIONS

Carter, who has made a career of trying to resolve world conflicts, traveled to Caracas to throw his weight behind international efforts to end the Venezuelan crisis.

"Both sides now want to reach an agreement to end the impasse," Carter told a news conference before flying home.

One of the two options he presented proposes an amendment to the constitution that would allow the holding of early elections. Such an amendment must be proposed by 15 percent of the electorate and be approved in a national referendum.

The other option is for the country to wait until Aug. 19 -- halfway through Chavez's term -- when the constitution allows for a binding referendum on the president's mandate, which is due to end in early 2007.

Chavez told reporters after meeting Carter he was willing to accept a constitutional amendment. "I don't reject any of these possibilities, but the opposition must comply with the constitution," he said.

"We are open to all formulas to bring forward elections," opposition representative Americo Martin told Reuters.

Carter said both sides would have to agree on one of his proposed alternatives. "I think this is a step in a positive direction, but certainly not a definitive answer," he said.

The opposition has been demanding immediate elections, arguing the country cannot wait until the August referendum.

The president, who himself staged a botched coup bid in 1992, has accused his opponents of trying to overthrow him.

Chavez, who purged the armed forces of opponents after the April coup, has sent troops to take over strike-hit oil installations and also to raid private factories and warehouses the government alleges are hoarding food supplies.

Since the strike began Dec 2, at least six people have been killed and dozens wounded in shootings and street clashes involving followers and foes of Chavez, troops and police.

Carter said he would also present his electoral proposals in Washington on Friday to the first meeting of foreign ministers from six nations forming a "group of friends" whose task is to help seek a solution to the Venezuela crisis.

The six-nation group, comprised of the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Spain and Portugal, was created last week to back the OAS-brokered peace talks.

(Additional reporting by Patrick Markey)