Chaderton Matos: Secretary Powell was not briefed properly about Venezuelan democracy

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Sunday, April 20, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Replying to US Secretary of State Colin Powell's latest remarks on Venezuelan democracy, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton Matos wryly comments that someone is not briefing Secretary Powell properly, especially as regards the recall referendum ... "it's in the law of laws, the Constitution." 

Hammering home his point, Chaderton Matos says the recall referendum was brought into Venezuelan democracy not by an opposition initiative but by an initiative of the Bolivarian government. 

The second part that Powell should have been briefed about, according to the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, is that those who shouldn't be trusted belong to the greater part of the opposition. 

Recalling the events of April 11-14, 2002, Chaderton Matos accuses the opposition of provoking huge scale social and political upheavals, attempting to strangle the country economically, causing financial panic and using media terrorism to get rid of President Chavez Frias. 

"The recall referendum is an absolutely constitutional and legal democratic exercise and not an acid test." 

Speaking during April 19 Declaration of Independence celebrations, Chaderton Matos reports that his Ministry will respond opportunely with documents pertaining to the Colombian Army's objections to allegations made by Venezuelan Executive Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel regarding collusion with paramilitaries in border badlands. 

The Minister says both governments are working around the clock in preparation of the April 23 summit in Puerto Ordaz between Presidents Alvaro Uribe and Hugo Chavez Frias ... "democracy is working quite well between the two countries ... we are converging ... Colombians and Venezuelas will not engage in fistfights and much less bullets ... the summit agenda will be varied and revolve around common interests."

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