<a href=www.voanews.com>VOA News 23 May 2003, 17:14 UTC

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez says he will sign a long-awaited deal with political opponents next week, opening the door to a referendum on Mr. Chavez's presidency.

Mr. Chavez made the announcement Friday in Cuzco, Peru, where he is meeting with other Latin American leaders for the annual Rio Group summit. The deal came in talks late Thursday, which included the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, Cesar Gaviria.

Last month, Mr. Gaviria brought the two sides close to an agreement, before Mr. Chavez rejected calls for international mediators in a future referendum.

Details on Friday's deal were not immediately available, but it is expected to allow for a vote on whether to allow Mr. Chavez to continue in power. Venezuela's constitution permits a recall referendum after the midpoint of a president's term, which comes on August 19th for Mr. Chavez.

Political opponents have been calling for Mr. Chavez to leave office, accusing him of leading the country toward economic ruin. Mr. Chavez has blamed the economic downturn on a two-month workers strike that ended earlier this year.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>venezuela's Electronic news Posted: Thursday, May 22, 2003 By: David Coleman

Venezuelan National Guard (GN) anti-narcotics agents estimate some 150 metric tonnes of Colombian produced cocaine pass through Venezuelan transshipment points each year ... 25% of the neighboring nation's total production and considered to be the largest world producer of illegal drug.

The news comes as 6th Control judge Hector Medina ordered the incarceration of four narco traffickers caught with 460 packages of cocaine powder totaling 600 kilos (1,323 pounds).  The detained suspects are named as Eduardo Junior Silva Barreto (33) alleged to be the ringleader, Jhonathan Alexander Gonzalez Perez (21), Georsi Barreto Betancourt (26) and Miriam del Carmen Santeliz Gonzalez.

23rd State Attorney Alis Boscan de Baptista says investigators now have 30 days in which to bring charges against the four and says he expects more arrests to be made shortly as interrogation proceeds.  Zulia Regional Criminal Investigations Department (DIP) officials are said to be hunting two other suspects linked to the drugs gang busted in the Los Pinos neighborhood of Maracaibo in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Citizen Security & Defense official Jose Sanchez says he has informed the Official Ombudsman's Office on all arrest procedures, including a newly-issued capture warrant for the missing duo, who remain unnamed.

DIP officials say the capture and seizure of the gang and the drugs haul has struck a severe blow to a powerful drugs cartel operating across the border from Colombia.  The drugs cache had been concealed in an underground cavity in waterproof packaging indicating that it was due to be shipped out by sea, most probably to Europe and North America.

GN raid commander Colonel Alcides Manuel Garcia Mavarez says the operation was the result of weeks of intelligence work.  The raid was approved just before midnight on Monday and the suspects' dwelling surrounded by armed officers in a well-orchestrated policing operation.  While police documents estimate the value of the cocaine at more than a billion Venezuelan bolivares, its value at street level in Europe is likely to be many multiples more.

Meanwhile a Venezuelan drug mule hospitalized in Cancun (Mexico) after she swallowed 44 capsules containing 536 grams of heroin, has been named as Miriam Gonzalez de Gonzalez (39) ... she is in ICU and her condition is described as extremely grave.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Thursday, May 22, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

In the latest revelations surrounding the case of the Spanish and Colombian embassy explosions, opposition April 11 (2002) coup financial backer Isaac Perez Recao and an Italian car battery businessman ... referred to as Gianni ... allegedly financed terrorist acts against Spanish and Colombian diplomatic buildings and the Teleport Center where government-opposition negotiations had been taking place.  

According to the police, Perez Recao was contacted abroad and paid part of 500 million bolivares towards a destabilization bombing campaign that allegedly had been hatched at a Los Ruices apartment where rebel Generals, Enrique Medina Gomez, Felipe Rodriguez and Nestor Gonzalez and Colonel Yucepe Piglieri met several times.  

The money was spent on buying C4 explosive and hiring people to place the bombs ... among whom were 2 persons in charge of Plaza Altamira security, currently under arrest for their alleged part in the murders of three rebel privates and a young lady. 

Reports allege that State Political & Security (DISIP) Police and CICPC investigations point to former DISIP agent Julio Galati, National Guard (GN) Lieutenant Antonio Colina, Navy Corporal Pedro Sifontes, Luis Chacin Sanguines, alias “Armadillo” and the Italian businessman's bodyguard Ernesto Lovera. 

Sifontes is said to have told Judge Deyanira Nieves that Lovera handed "Armadillo" C4 explosive and the latter monitored the placing out of the explosives from a motorbike.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Wednesday, May 21, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Organization of American States (OAS) general secretary, Cesar Gaviria has made a stopover in Venezuela to try and put wind in the sails of government-opposition negotiations, which once again have stalled. 

Gaviria has been meeting representatives of both sides separately to find out if there is enough political will to continue sessions and seek an electoral, pacific and constitutional solution. 

The crunch point is whether the opposition will reply to the government's counter-proposal to a pre-agreement document, which the opposition expected the government to sign and which the government agreed to discuss among its allies before returning to the table. 

The opposition has encountered difficulties in its own camp from critics who say opposition negotiators should have dealt with the counter-proposal then and there to  get the recall referendum rolling instead of wasting time. 

OAS representative in Caracas, Fernando Jaramillo has prepared a new document which could be the starting-point for further negotiations and is limited to electoral aspects.

Opposition negotiators, Alejandro Armas and Rafael Alfonso say they are ready to continue negotiations and Executive Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel has made it clear on several occasions that the government is open, declaring that the ball is in the opposition's court. 

Gaviria is expected to leave Venezuela for Argentina and Peru and could return next Monday to continue his job as facilitator.

After wrapping up exploratory meetings with the opposition and Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel,  Carter Center representatives, Jennifer McCoy and Francisco Diez confirm that they are confident there will be an agreement.

The two representatives contend that Rangel has ratified the government's disposition to reach an agreement and support for the Carter Center's continuing role as facilitator and observer in Venezuela. 

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic news Posted: Wednesday, May 21, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias says 2002 could have been the first year of a civil war and that violence was avoided because the government decided to open a dialog process, despite opposition pressure. 

"After the coup attempt we did not fall into provocations and instead convoked a dialog ... it would have been a mistake to initiate a drive against the coupsters and to have adopted a tough stance ... it would have led to further violence." 

Speaking during the inauguration of extension work on Caracas Metro Line 3 , the President states that the government is learning to co-exist in democracy,  insisting that he does not want to see another year like 2002 and the way forward is to change attitudes and seek conciliation in the interest of all sectors of society.

In a moment of self-criticism, Chavez Frias admits that his government has been poor in its efforts to communicate what it has been doing ... "very bad ... people are unaware of the public works that are being built, including the underground railroad extensions in Caracas, Los Teques, Maracaibo and Valencia." 

According to the President, some impartial foreign media experts undertook a study and told him that the opposition has a 500% media surplus compared to what is normal in other countries that have a critical opposition ... "opposition is normal in democracy ... they also said the government's media deficit stands at 85%." 

Chavez Frias has promised to continue seeking a solution but says it's like a counter-culture or a force holding the government back. 

The Cabinet comes under fire for not letting the country know about the government's social works in view of the fact that there is no country in Latin America that is building the number of works as Venezuela.