MVR members to meet US Ambassador to discuss concerns

osted: Thursday, March 13, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Members of President Hugo Chavez Frias' Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) party are set to hold talks with US Ambassador to Venezuela Charles Shapiro tomorrow to discuss various domestic and international concerns.

The meeting was announced by former National Assembly president Willian Lara, who said that the MVR deputies plan to explain to the Ambassador that Venezuela's public powers are entirely autonomous and that they do not answer to the government.

Lara says that this has become necessary as members of his party have "noticed some confusion" on this issue in recent statements made by US State Department officials. "We are very concerned about the repeated statements made by Otto Reich, which are obviously biased and influenced by the interests of Venezuelan opposition groups."