Tentative Deal Reached in Bid for Venezuela Referendum

<a href=www.voanews.com>VOA News-AP 09 May 2003, 12:37 UTC

Hugo ChavezNegotiators for the Venezuelan government and opposition groups say they have reached a tentative agreement to hold a referendum on President Hugo Chavez's rule, although the government objects to international observers overseeing the vote.

Opposition members have been pushing for a referendum for some time. During talks in Caracas Thursday, government representatives said they would allow a referendum to go forward, but only if there would be no monitoring by international observers, on the grounds this would threaten Venezuelan sovereignty.

Government and opposition officials met separately Thursday with diplomats from the so-called Group of Friends of Venezuela - comprising Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and the United States.

Since January, the six-member diplomatic group has supported efforts to negotiate a peaceful solution to the long-running turmoil that triggered a brief military coup last year against President Chavez. The latest negotiations come three months after an opposition-led general strike failed to force Mr. Chavez to resign and call early elections.

The opposition charges the Venezuelan president is ruining the economy by trying to model the country after Communist Cuba. Mr. Chavez says his adversaries are responsible for the economic downturn.