Venezuela Opposition to Press for Vote on Chavez

<a href=asia.reuters.com>Reuters. Fri April 25, 2003 03:16 PM ET By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Foes of leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Friday they would launch a campaign to hold a referendum on his rule this year after his government backed away from signing an internationally brokered election deal.

Organization of American States officials announced on April 11 that the government and its opponents had initially agreed to hold the referendum after Aug. 19. to end months of turmoil in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

The signing of the agreement, which set no date for the poll, had been due to take place after Easter. But Chavez's government, which survived a coup last year and an opposition strike in December and January, demanded changes to the accord, infuriating the opposition and raising doubts about the vote.

The delay was a setback for OAS Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria, who has spent more than five months brokering negotiations to try to resolve the long-running conflict over the turbulent rule of former paratrooper Chavez.

Opposition leaders, who brought hundreds of thousands of supporters onto the streets in huge anti-Chavez protests over the last 18 months, said they would hold a national campaign for the referendum, starting with Labor Day marches on May 1.

"Our strategy is to advance down the path toward a recall referendum," opposition negotiator Alejandro Armas told a news conference in Caracas.

Lacking strong leadership or clear strategies, Venezuela's determined but divided opposition is struggling to reorganize since the recent anti-government strike failed to dislodge Chavez, a fiery populist who was first elected in 1998.

OPPOSITION SUSPICION

Opposition leaders have accused the president, who failed to seize power in a botched 1992 coup, of trying to block the referendum, which is foreseen under the constitution. By law, the poll can be held after the president completes half of his current term on Aug 19. His full term ends in early 2007.

"The referendum is going to happen ... whether an agreement is signed or not," opposition leader Rafael Alfonzo, an anti-Chavez businessman, told reporters.

Government negotiators led by Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel objected to several clauses in the accord, including one which said that the OAS, the U.S.-based Carter Center and the United Nations would act as guarantors of a referendum deal.

Chavez, who is accused by his foes of ruling like a dictator and trying to impose Cuba-style communism, has said he will not accept any foreign meddling or pressure.

But he has insisted his government does not fear a vote and has challenged his foes to collect the necessary signatures -- 20 percent of the electorate -- to trigger the referendum.

Fueling opposition suspicions that he wants to torpedo the vote, Chavez has repeatedly insisted the National Assembly must first appoint a new National Electoral Council to set a date for the referendum and oversee the election process.

He also wants the national electoral register to be carefully checked, alleging it is plagued with errors such as false identities and dead people's names.

The efforts of OAS chief Gaviria to clinch an agreement on the referendum have been backed by a six-nation "group of friends" including the United States and Brazil.

"It is very important for Venezuela ... that an agreement be reached as soon as possible," U.S. ambassador to Venezuela Charles Shapiro said. Former U.S. President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter has also helped with the negotiations.