Envoys to Meet With Chavez, Opposition

www.sunherald.com Posted on Fri, Jan. 31, 2003 JORGE RUEDA Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela - Government foes facing dwindling support for a two-month strike sought international backing Friday in their drive to shorten President Hugo Chavez's term.

High-level envoys, meanwhile, from the United States, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal and Spain - dubbed the "Group of Friends" - were to meet with Chavez and opposition leaders Friday. The group also planned to attend negotiations sponsored by Cesar Gaviria, secretary-general of the Organization of American States.

The envoys are urging both sides to agree on one of two proposals made by Nobel Peace laureate and former President Jimmy Carter. The first is to amend the constitution to shorten Chavez's term and clear the way for early elections. The second is for both sides to wait for a midterm referendum on Chavez's rule.

The diplomatic push for a settlement came as shopping malls, banks, franchises and schools prepared to reopen next week. Production also was creeping upward in the oil industry, where the 61-day walkout has been the most damaging.

The opposition called the strike on Dec. 2 to demand a nonbinding referendum on Chavez's rule in February. It later upped the ante to demand Chavez's ouster.

But the Supreme Court, citing a technicality, indefinitely postponed the referendum. Chavez shows no signs of leaving.

Opponents were planning an afternoon march on the Melia hotel - where the foreign diplomats are staying - to protest government investigations against three private television stations accused of supporting efforts to overthrow Chavez. The investigations could culminate in the shutdown of the stations.

The opposition has proposed a constitutional amendment that would cut Chavez's term from six years to four and clear the way for presidential and congressional elections this year. The opposition plan also calls for a new elections council and a Supreme Court ruling to determine when a referendum on Chavez's rule can be held.

Under the proposal, Chavez and pro-government lawmakers could run for re-election. He has been president since 1999 and his term ends in 2007.

The government said it was studying the opposition's proposal but won't allow it to shorten Chavez's term.

Strike leader Manuel Cova of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation said Thursday a new presidential election could be held as early as March and should be done this year.

"To do this we need the guarantees of the international community," Cova said. "If we don't do it this year, we'll be in prison, or in exile, there won't be press freedom."

Opposition groups are organizing a nationwide campaign on Feb. 2 to collect nearly 2 million signatures needed from Venezuela's 12 million voters for the amendment proposal.

Both sides recognize international mediation "is essential to open the path for negotiation," said Gaviria, who has tried to broker an end to the political tug-of-war since November.

Chavez has welcomed the "Group of Friends" initiative, but he has warned others not to meddle in Venezuela's domestic affairs. He also has vowed not to strike a deal with an opposition he refers to as a "coup-plotting oligarchy." Chavez was briefly ousted in a failed April coup.

The standoff has devastated Venezuela's oil-dependent economy, though the government has revived production to about 1 million barrels a day. Output fell to about 200,000 barrels a day in December from the norm of more than 3 million.

Analysts predict the economy will shrink 25 percent this year after an 8 percent contraction last year. Unemployment has reached 17 percent and is expected to rise.

The government has slashed its 2003 budget by 10 percent from $25 billion and announced it will cut the state-owned oil monopoly's budget from US$8 billion to $2.7 billion.

Oil accounts for half of government income and 30 percent of Venezuela's $100 billion gross domestic product.