Clarification: In my view, this was yet another Chavez victory

<a href=www.vheadline.com>venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Friday, June 20, 2003 By: Vitali Meschoulam

Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 17:10:26 -0400 From: Vitali Meschoulam meschoulam@eurasiagroup.net To: Editor@VHeadline.com Subject: clarification

Dear Editor: I appreciate the attention given to me in David Coleman's June 6 article in which I am quoted as saying, "he's basically shut the opposition down by signing an agreement that says let's do what's in the Constitution."

Apparently, (and according to the same article) some in Caracas could not fully understand what I was trying to say.

In order to clarify: What I meant to say is that for the last few years, Chavez has been demanding that the opposition abide by constitutional processes (i.e. revocatory referendum, etc...).

By signing the agreement with the opposition, Chavez exposed the shortcomings in their heretofore failed strategies to oust him by other means.

In my view, this was yet another Chavez victory ... even though it also clearly opens up the possibility of holding a referendum sometime in the future.

I hope this helps, Regards, Vitali Meschoulam meschoulam@eurasiagroup.net Senior Analyst, Eurasia Group