Six-Nation Group Pushes for Venezuela Peace Accord

abcnews.go.com — By Patrick Markey

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - A six-nation group led by the United States and Brazil was ready to make a fresh bid to end Venezuela's political conflict on Friday, a day after a grenade blast in Caracas stoked fears of increasing violence in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

Foreign ministers from the group were to hold talks in Washington with President Hugo Chavez's government and his foes, who are staging a crippling strike to force the leftist leader to resign.

Chavez, on the eve of the Washington talks, said he would not to negotiate with an opposition he dismissed as "fascist terrorists" trying to oust him by destroying the oil sector.

"We do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not negotiate with coup-mongers. We defeat them," the populist president roared at thousands of supporters rallying in central Caracas.

The group mediating in Washington also includes Spain, Portugal, Mexico and Chile. Chavez, whose anti-imperialist rhetoric often strains ties with the United States, has said he believes it should be expanded to bring in other countries, such as Russia, France and Cuba.

Negotiations brokered by the Organization of American States have so far failed to break the deadlock.

Opposition leaders, who include rebel executives at state oil firm PDVSA, have vowed to stay on strike until Chavez quits. But the combative president refuses to step down and rejects calls for early elections.

At least seven people have died in shootings and street clashes since the strike began on Dec. 2. A fragmentation grenade exploded Thursday in central Caracas, killing one man and wounding more than a dozen near the Chavez rally.

International efforts to end the crisis have intensified after the stoppage slashed Venezuela's vital oil production and exports, pushing up global oil prices as the United States prepares for a possible attack on Iraq.

The Bush administration, keen to find a quick solution to the conflict in one of its major oil suppliers, on Thursday endorsed a proposal by former U.S. president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter on elections.

Carter presented Chavez and his opponents with two ideas at a meeting on Tuesday -- an amendment to Venezuela's constitution that would trigger early elections or a binding national referendum on Chavez's rule on Aug. 19. Both proposals called for an end to the strike.

Chavez, who survived a coup in April, has urged foes to wait until August to hold a midterm referendum on his presidency, as the constitution allows.

But his opponents demand that Chavez accept early elections, saying Chavez has governed like a dictator and dragged the nation toward Cuba-style communism.