Weary opposition negotiators want definite solution to stalemate conflict

www.vheadline.com Posted: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The Venezuelan opposition has proposed to the Group of Friends meeting in Brazil to make Organization of American States (OAS) general secretary Cesar Gaviria a mediator in the continuing Venezuela political crisis.

Political observers suggest that the proposal would seem to indicate that the opposition is tiring and unable to come up with anything substantial and innovative, and now want to see the 6-nation Group of Friends exert more pressure on the government.

Opposition negotiator Timoteo Zambrano argues that changing Gaviria's status from facilitator to mediator will have a knock-on effect ... "we would like to see a mega-meeting with the presence of Jimmy Carter, Gaviria, a UN general secretary representative and foreign ministers from the six nations ... we are seeking a definite solution to the conflict."

Zambrano accuses the Chavez Frias government of increasing levels of violence persecuting its political enemies and attempting to change the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) constitution.

Placing the onus on the government, Zambrano says that, after four months of negotiations, it is time for the government to fulfill its obligation to solve the political crisis. Political observers say Zambrano is angling to position UN adviser Diego Arria ... a former protege of Carlos Andres Perez ... as a key player in the new negotiating ball game.

Speaking at the Group of Friends meeting, Brazil's interim Foreign Minister Samuel Pinheiro Guimaraes has defended the thesis of maintain Gaviria as facilitator, while President Hugo Chavez Frias continues to lobby for the inclusion of France and Russia in the Group of Friends ... something the Brazilians have refused to agree to.