<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, April 28, 2003 By: Kira Marquez Perez

VHeadline.com commentarist Kira Marquez Perez writes: “Money” seems to be the key word for many opponents to the government of President Hugo Chavez Frias and the reason for their frustration and hatred against him.

We have been able to witness a “show of protagonists” (and opportunists) in the Venezuelan opposition during the last months: Carmona, Pena, Ortega, Fernandez (x 2), Salas Romer, Petkoff, Miquelena, Cisneros, etc.

These personalities are prepared to do anything to protect their comfortable positions, from which they have been able to profit (often illegally) at the costs of the nation.

Within PDVSA we have had quite a few good examples too (with Ciavaldini, Mandini and Lameda in front of the list).

Their greed for power and money has been so great that they have even betrayed each other ... that's why most of the things they've done up to now, including coups, strikes, etc, have not worked!

We saw this already in the 1998 elections when AD and Copei betrayed their own candidates and decided to join forces and support Salas Romer to make sure that Chavez didn't win. In spite of these efforts, Mr. Chavez still won the elections with a vast majority.

Since 1998, the “opposition” has united to get rid of Chavez ... however, this union has only been a theoretical one, since their avarice has not allowed them to really work together ... and I really wonder if they will ever be able to do it at all.

These people have tried everything: coups, strikes, bombings, shootings, sabotage, montages, falsifications, etc.

Their favorite tactic, however, has been to destabilize the Venezuelan economy ... they have tried by all means to create a bad image of the country abroad, to stop potential investors from coming to Venezuela.

Their hatred against Chavez is greater than their love for Venezuela, and they are willing to destroy the country if they have to … just to get rid of him.

In this particular, I must say that I was really shocked to read Mr. Gustavo Coronel's latest editorial: I had certainly expected a lot more from a person with his degree of instruction.

I hope Mr. Coronel is aware of the damage he is causing our Venezuela with his fanatical rhetoric.

Kira Marquez Perez was born in Merida where she studied chemistry at the Universidad de los Andes (ULA) with a scholarship from PDVSA as a reward for outstanding participation in the Chemistry Olympics.  She obtained her Diploma (Licenciatura) in 1997 and entered the oil industry the same year,  working in process engineering and quality improvement. Kira has participated in many seminars and congresses all over the world and has won several national and international prizes.  She currently lives in Germany, where she is doing a PhD in Electrochemistry at the Heinrich-Heine-Universitat Dusseldorf ... before that, she lived and studied in England and the USA and speaks several languages fluently.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Sunday, April 27, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The proposed Truth Commission under parliamentary discussion for the last year is still dangling in uncertainty, despites assurances from National Assembly deputy Guillermo Palacios that the law could be passed on May 6. 

Last Friday, the deputies agreed to hold a second reading bringing the commission into being on May 6 ... but some opposition members are already raising objections to some clauses, alleging that the government bench is stalling to avoid possible posterior legal actions against President Hugo Chavez Frias for his alleged part in the events of April 11, 2002. 

Accion Democratica (AD) deputy, Wilfredo Febres accuses the government bench of lacking political will and of filling the commission with flunkies, such as members of the Tupamaros urban guerrilla group and Bolivarian Circles. 

Although deputy Palacios is optimistic that the law will be passed, most observers feel that more obstacles will be placed delaying the commission, as both sides of the House slug it out to gain a dominant position in such an important and allegedly independent investigation.

By Peter Wilson

Caracas, April 26 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Talks between Venezuela's government and opposition groups about a referendum on President Hugo Chavez term in office may resume next week as Organization of American States Secretary General Cesar Gaviria tries to salvage an earlier accord, El Nacional reported.

Talks will center on bridging differences between the two sides, which reached a tentative agreement on April 11, the newspaper said, citing an unidentified official close to the talks. That agreement was subsequently rejected by the government, which objected to clauses agreeing to the presence of international observers.

Gaviria left yesterday for Colombia and may travel to the U.S. before returning to oversee talks.

A referendum would end two years of protests and strikes by the opposition, who demand that Chavez, a former army lieutenant colonel, resign or call early elections. Opponents agreed to a binding referendum to be held after August, the midpoint of Chavez's six-year term, after a two-month national strike failed.

(EN 4-26, A2)

For El Nacional's Web site, click on {NCNL } Last Updated: April 26, 2003 11:50 EDT

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic NewsPosted: Wednesday, April 23, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

Executive Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel confirms the Venezuelan government's commitment to the recall referendum as a "constitutional mandate," stipulated in the Bolivarian Constitution Art. 72, which Rangel says the government will abide by, once all  the requisites have been met meriting a call for a referendum and once the National Electoral College (CNE) has been appointed. 

Rangel accuses the opposition of attempting to rush the electoral process and insists that there can be no doubt about the government's will to abide by the Constitution. 

Comparing the government's approach to that of the opposition, Rangel says the opposition seems bent on instant gratification, whereas the government is taking a normal approach. "In times of negotiations,  pressure and compulsive summonsing must give way to democratic practice." 

Rangel reveals that in the early stages of negotiations, the government wanted to see the referendum extended to all elected officials but the opposition rejected the constitutional alternative and attempted to smuggle in a consultative referendum for December 2, 2002 as an ultimatum. "We are in step with the timetable stipulated in legal ordinances and the Constitution."

STEPHEN IXER, <a href=www.sfgate.com>Associated Press Writer Tuesday, April 22, 2003
(04-22) 18:24 PDT CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) --

President Hugo Chavez vowed to defeat his opponents at the ballot box Tuesday as his government promised not to block a referendum on his rule.

"We are going to make them bite the dust of defeat," Chavez told a crowd of his supporters.

Such a referendum is expected following mediation by the Organization of American States between the government and opposition.

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said the government will not put obstacles in the way of the recall referendum proposal presented during the OAS talks.

"There should be no doubt about the government's willingness" to allow the referendum, Jose Vicente Rangel said in a statement.

Venezuela's constitution allows citizens to petition for a referendum on whether a president should step down. The vote can take place after the midpoint of a president's six-year-term -- August, in Chavez's case -- if petitioners gather signatures from at least 2.5 million registered voters.

The OAS talks were meant to bring stability to Venezuela, deeply polarized over continued rule by Chavez, a former paratroop commander who was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000. He survived a two-day coup in April 2002 and then a recent two-month general strike to demand his resignation or early elections.

In another development in Chavez's government, Planning Minister Felipe Perez resigned, and Jorge Giordani was appointed in his place, the president told Union Radio.

The business community is likely to protest the appointment of Giordani, who was planning minister under Chavez from 1999-2002. Chavez had sacked Giordani after a failed April 2002 coup in an attempt to appease business leaders unhappy with leftist policies they blamed for driving the economy into recession.