Chavez, opponents OK plan to calm Venezuela--Bitter foes agree to set up system for voting on his rule

Juan Forero, <a href=www.sfgate.com>San Francisco Chronicle-New York Times Saturday, May 24, 2003
Bogota, Colombia -- After six months of bitter negotiations, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and his adversaries have agreed to sign an accord that would lead to a referendum on his rule, officials on both sides said Friday.

The agreement, brokered late Thursday by the Organization of American States in Caracas, the capital, calls on both sides to end violence. It is likely to lead to a referendum this year after a new electoral board is chosen to oversee the vote.

The pact, to be signed Wednesday, does not provide a complete framework for how a referendum would be held. But it offers the prospect of calming months of tumult in Venezuela, a major oil exporter.

Uncharacteristically, the two sides agreed with each other on Friday and hailed the agreement, which is meant to help heal a nation badly divided over its president. Chavez, a former paratrooper whose support comes mostly from the country's poor masses, has made enemies with his leftist policies since his election four years ago.

"It is a reasonably good document," Alejandro Armas, an opposition negotiator, told reporters. He added, "From our point of view, there is reasonable satisfaction for the objectives reached."

In Peru, where he was attending a summit meeting of Latin American leaders, Chavez said the pact showed "that the opposition at last understands there is a constitution that must be respected."

Chavez was briefly toppled by a coup in April 2002. His adversaries, a coalition of businessmen, labor groups and private media companies, have staged four national strikes since December 2001.

The latest strike, a two-month walkout that began in December and ended in failure for the opposition, devastated the economy and temporarily shut down Venezuela's oil industry.

Opinion polls show that Chavez would most likely lose a referendum. Since the last strike, the economy has contracted by 29 percent, and a majority of Venezuelans tell pollsters they want a change. Still, Chavez enjoys an important level of support among the poor.