Preserving Democracy in Venezuela
he best hope for a peaceful, democratic outcome to Venezuela's political crisis may now rest in the mediation efforts of Jimmy Carter. During his presidency Mr. Carter was a firm champion of democracy throughout Latin America, standing up to the military tyrannies that then predominated in the region. Now he has proposed two principled and plausible solutions to the long-running conflict over President Hugo Chávez, which has divided Venezuela's people, hobbled its economy and raised the specter of a breakdown in constitutional rule.
Mr. Carter, who met separately in recent days with Mr. Chávez and opposition leaders, offers two possible solutions, both compatible with Venezuela's laws and the right of its people to choose their own leaders freely. One provides for passage of a constitutional amendment, either by Venezuela's legislature or a popular vote, that would shorten the current six-year presidential term and provide for new elections later this year. The other would set up a binding referendum this summer on whether Mr. Chávez should resign or stay in office as scheduled until 2006. That isn't exactly what either side wants, but Mr. Chávez and at least some opposition leaders have suggested that they might be able to accept one or both of the Carter proposals.
Until this week Mr. Chávez's opponents had hoped to drive him from office long before summer. They were counting on the combined pressure of a non-binding referendum that had been scheduled for Feb. 2 and a national strike now in its eighth week that has shut down much of Venezuela's vital oil industry, depriving the government of badly needed revenues and sending world oil prices soaring.
But the strike has begun faltering, and this week Venezuela's Supreme Court suspended preparations for the February referendum, which Mr. Chávez had vowed to ignore anyway. That should strengthen elements of the opposition willing to accept a reasonable compromise along the lines Mr. Carter has suggested.
The United States and five other nations trying to resolve the standoff hold their first meeting in Washington today. Venezuelans of all persuasions should rally behind the Carter proposals.