Venezuela Dismisses U.S. Pressure for Chavez Vote
Tue April 29, 2003 03:40 PM ET
CARACAS, Venezuela (<a href=reuters.com>Reuters) - Venezuela's vice president on Tuesday rejected U.S. calls for President Hugo Chavez to sign an agreement for a referendum on his rule, saying the government did not "give a damn" about foreign pressure.
Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel, a close ally of the populist leader, dismissed statements by U.S. officials that Chavez should accept the internationally brokered deal for a referendum after middle of August this year.
"Venezuela is not a colony. So, regarding what other people say about Venezuela, those who are not Venezuelans, we don't give a damn," Rangel told reporters. "An agreement will be signed voluntarily ... not under any foreign pressure."
Rangel did not mention the United States directly. But two U.S. officials on Monday expressed concern that Chavez would delay the accord for a poll on whether to end his mandate.
Venezuelan opposition leaders reached the referendum deal with government negotiators on April 11, a year after Chavez survived the brief military coup that triggered months of protests and street clashes over his rule.
But a week later the government backed away from signing the accord brokered by the Organization of American States (OAS). OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria is scrambling to patch up the agreement.
"It's time to give a demonstration of good faith under these negotiations; it's time for President Chavez to sign the agreement as it is," Curtis Struble, acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said in Washington on Monday.
Otto Reich, the White House special envoy for the Western Hemisphere, also urged the government not to delay the electoral agreement.
The United States is part of a six-nation "Group of Friends" that is backing the OAS negotiations.
Under Venezuela's constitution, a referendum can be held after Aug. 19, or halfway through the president's term in office. The opposition must collect signatures from 20 percent of the electorate to trigger the vote.
The Venezuelan leader has always insisted that he would agree to a referendum as foreseen under the constitution. But the opposition believes the government will scuttle the vote.
Chavez, elected in 1998 on promises to ease poverty, and his foes have been locked in a political struggle since last year's coup.