Venezuela's Government, Foes Agree Referendum Pact

Sat May 24, 2003 12:13 AM ET By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela (<a href=reuters.com>Reuters) - Venezuela's government and opposition, seeking to end months of feuding, have agreed a political pact to hold a referendum on Hugo Chavez's presidency after Aug. 19, officials said on Friday.

The accord follows more than six months of negotiations between the two sides, which have been locked in fierce conflict over Chavez's rule.

Organization of American States Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria, who has brokered the talks, achieved a consensus late on Thursday on the framework agreement, an OAS official said.

"There is an agreement," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. He added the accord should be signed by Wednesday.

Despite the accord, an opposition party, Accion Democratica, planned to go ahead with an anti-government rally Saturday in a strongly pro-Chavez district of west Caracas.

Defense Minister Gen. Jose Luis Prieto and Interior Minister Gen. Lucas Rincon appeared on national television later on Friday to appeal to both sides to avoid violence during the rally.

Rincon said 2,000 police officers, supported by National Guard, would be on duty to prevent trouble at the protest.

International mediators and foreign governments have been pressing Chavez and his opponents to commit to a referendum to end the cycle of protests, strikes and violence that has gripped the world's No. 5 oil exporter since 2001.

Chavez, who survived a coup last year and a general strike in December and January, has said he is willing to submit to the constitutional referendum on his mandate. But his foes accuse him of trying to avoid a vote.

Chavez opponents say the populist president is ruling like a dictator and trying to install Cuba-style communism.

In the 19-point accord, both sides agree to shun violence, respect democracy and hold referendums for the president and other elected officials as laid down in the constitution.

The accord also endorses plans to disarm the civilian population. At least 50 people have been shot to death and several hundred injured in political violence over the last 18 months.

Both government and opposition negotiators hailed the political pact as a mechanism to reduce tensions.

"This clears the path to a referendum as an electoral solution to the political crisis," opposition representative Alejandro Armas told reporters.

Venezuela's constitution allows for a recall vote on the president's rule once he has completed half of his six-year mandate. In Chavez's case, this is Aug. 19.

To trigger the referendum, the opposition must collect signatures from 20 percent of the electorate.

The government also insists that the National Assembly must first select a new National Electoral Commission.

But the assembly, where pro-Chavez deputies hold a slim majority, is still haggling over candidates for the electoral authority which would verify the signatures for a referendum and set a date for the vote.