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

Venezuelan Army Captain Michael O'Brien's defense lawyer, Gustavo Parilli complains that President Hugo Chavez Frias, the Defense Minister and Army C-i-C  are not complying with legally authorized measures to protect his client. 

Parilli, who is dismissed rebel General (ret.) Manuel Rosendo's lawyer, recalls that the 5th Caracas Control Judge ordered the government to introduce protection measures in favor of O'Brien Fossi after the events of April 11. 

General Manuel Rosendo used Captain O'Brien's version of a conversation between Jose Vicente Rangel and Libertador Mayor Freddy Bernal on April 11, alleging that Rangel had told Bernal to bring down Bolivarian Circles from the Caracas hillside slums with sticks and stones to prevent an anti-government crowd from marching on Miraflores. 

• Opposition media picked up on the Captain's allegations, which government sources say was gossip, to boost its take on the Llaguno Bridge shootings that occurred later in the afternoon.

O'Brien has kept his head down since the his superior, Rosendo used his aide's bit of news to defend his own actions on April 11 (2002) when as Armed Force Unified Command (Cufan),  Rosendo cut off communications with the President preventing the implementation of an emergency security plan called Plan Avila to counter disturbances. In view of posterior revelations of US government involvement in the coup, General Rosendo will have to clarify his April 11 disappearing act.

O'Brien's lawyer confirms that the lives of the Captain and his family are in danger. However, the lawyer did not offer details regarding if the government had withdrew protection and when ... it is also unclear whether O'Brien continues as an active service officer or has been discharged. 

What news agencies agree on is that there was a legal order banning the transfer of O'Brien from Caracas to any other part of Venezuela and that apparently the Captain has been asked to make another declaration on what he overheard on April 11 in the morning and has refused. Lawyer Parilli promises to take the Captains' case to the Inter American Human Rights Commission.

Sat May 24, 2003 12:07 PM ET CARACAS, Venezuela (<a href=asia.reuters.com>Reuters) - One person was shot to death and at least eight others, including three National Guard troops, were injured by gunfire as opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rallied on Saturday in a pro-Chavez district of Caracas, police and firefighters said.

Shooting erupted as several hundred supporters of the opposition Accion Democratica Party held an anti-government rally in a narrow street in Catia, a poor, crime-ridden neighborhood that is a bastion of support for Chavez.

Witnesses said some of the shots appeared to come from side streets where groups of Chavez supporters had gathered to shout insults at the opposition protesters.

Demonstrators scattered on several occasions as gunfire rang out.

A Reuters correspondent at the scene saw one man, a motorcyclist, lying bleeding from a bullet wound in his neck.

Earlier, three National Guard troops were shot nearby when a patrol came under fire from gunmen.

The violence erupted a day after government and opposition negotiators announced they had agreed to a political pact to hold a referendum on Chavez's rule after Aug. 19.

The agreement aims to end months of often violent political conflict in Venezuela over the presidency of the populist Chavez, who was elected in late 1998 and survived a brief coup last year.

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.

Sat May 24, 2003 12:13 AM ET By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela (<a href=reuters.com>Reuters) - Venezuela's government and opposition, seeking to end months of feuding, have agreed a political pact to hold a referendum on Hugo Chavez's presidency after Aug. 19, officials said on Friday.

The accord follows more than six months of negotiations between the two sides, which have been locked in fierce conflict over Chavez's rule.

Organization of American States Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria, who has brokered the talks, achieved a consensus late on Thursday on the framework agreement, an OAS official said.

"There is an agreement," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. He added the accord should be signed by Wednesday.

Despite the accord, an opposition party, Accion Democratica, planned to go ahead with an anti-government rally Saturday in a strongly pro-Chavez district of west Caracas.

Defense Minister Gen. Jose Luis Prieto and Interior Minister Gen. Lucas Rincon appeared on national television later on Friday to appeal to both sides to avoid violence during the rally.

Rincon said 2,000 police officers, supported by National Guard, would be on duty to prevent trouble at the protest.

International mediators and foreign governments have been pressing Chavez and his opponents to commit to a referendum to end the cycle of protests, strikes and violence that has gripped the world's No. 5 oil exporter since 2001.

Chavez, who survived a coup last year and a general strike in December and January, has said he is willing to submit to the constitutional referendum on his mandate. But his foes accuse him of trying to avoid a vote.

Chavez opponents say the populist president is ruling like a dictator and trying to install Cuba-style communism.

In the 19-point accord, both sides agree to shun violence, respect democracy and hold referendums for the president and other elected officials as laid down in the constitution.

The accord also endorses plans to disarm the civilian population. At least 50 people have been shot to death and several hundred injured in political violence over the last 18 months.

Both government and opposition negotiators hailed the political pact as a mechanism to reduce tensions.

"This clears the path to a referendum as an electoral solution to the political crisis," opposition representative Alejandro Armas told reporters.

Venezuela's constitution allows for a recall vote on the president's rule once he has completed half of his six-year mandate. In Chavez's case, this is Aug. 19.

To trigger the referendum, the opposition must collect signatures from 20 percent of the electorate.

The government also insists that the National Assembly must first select a new National Electoral Commission.

But the assembly, where pro-Chavez deputies hold a slim majority, is still haggling over candidates for the electoral authority which would verify the signatures for a referendum and set a date for the vote.

Posted on Fri, May. 23, 2003 FABIOLA SANCHEZ SunHerald.com-Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela - Supporters and opponents of President Hugo Chavez have agreed on a plan for a referendum on the president's rule, officials on both sides said Friday.

Opposition representative Juan Raffalli said the proposal also calls for votes on the mandates of other elected officials.

The agreement, brokered by the Organization of American States, prohibits any amendments to election laws while authorities prepare for balloting.

A government delegate involved in the negotiations, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed an agreement had been reached with help from OAS chief Cesar Gaviria.

The pact, which came unexpectedly after six months of OAS-mediated negotiations and is slated to be signed next week, would end formal talks between the sides. It calls for the creation of a special committee, including envoys from the OAS, Atlanta-based Carter Center and United Nations, to ensure the accord is respected.

Opponents accuse Chavez of scaring off foreign investment and becoming increasingly authoritarian. The only democratic solution to the crisis that has dangerously divided this South American nation of 24 million, they argue, is holding a referendum on his rule.

Chavez denies the allegations. Opposition groups, he argues, aim to overthrow his government to regain privileges they lost when he swept to power on promises to cast aside entrenched political parties widely regarded as corrupt.

Chavez, a former paratrooper who led a failed 1992 coup attempt, was elected president in 1998 and re-elected to a six-year term in 2000. The leftist firebrand has vowed to defeat the opposition bid at the ballot box and says he could remain in power until 2021.