Venezuela referendum pact to be signed Thursday-OAS

27 May 2003 16:08:48 GMT CARACAS, Venezuela,(Reuters) - An agreement between Venezuela's government and opposition for a possible referendum on Hugo Chavez's presidency will be signed in Caracas Thursday and should help to defuse their long-running political conflict, an international mediator said Tuesday.

"The signing will take place Thursday ... I believe that this will help to improve the political climate," Organization of American States Secretary General Cesar Gaviria told reporters in Caracas.

The OAS, the United Nations, the Atlanta-based Carter Center and foreign governments had been pressing left-winger Chavez and his foes to agree elections to end more than a year of often violent feuding in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

Following more than six months of tough negotiations brokered by Gaviria, Chavez's government and its foes Friday reached a 19-point accord in which both sides accept the idea of a possible referendum after August 19. They also agreed to shun violence and support a plan to disarm civilians.

After Aug. 19, which marks the halfway point of Chavez's current term, Venezuela's constitution allows the holding of a recall vote on his rule. But the opposition must first collect the signatures from 20 percent of voters.

"I don't know if there will be a recall referendum. It's a possibility if the opposition meets all the constitutional requirements," Chavez told Reuters in Cusco, Peru Friday during a summit of Latin American presidents.

It will be signed by Chavez's vice president, Jose Vicente Rangel, as the most senior government representative, opposition negotiators from a broad anti-Chavez coalition, Gaviria and U.N. and Carter Center officials.

Some opposition leaders fear that Chavez, a former paratrooper who won election in 1998 six years after failing to seize power in a coup, may still try to avoid the vote. His foes accuse him of ruling like a dictator and of trying to install Cuban-style communism.

Chavez has said he is willing to submit to the referendum, but the opposition must take the required steps to make the vote happen.

The agreement will be signed despite violence over the weekend in which gunfire disrupted a rally by opposition supporters in a pro-Chavez district of Caracas. One person was killed and 22 more were injured by bullets. Government and opposition blamed each other.

Venezuela's National Assembly, where Chavez supporters hold a slim majority, must select a new National Electoral Council to set a date for the referendum, verify the signatures and check the national electoral register.