www.krnv.com

Washington-AP -- Some State Department officials say Venezuela needs to rebuild its status and reliability as an oil supplier. Top officials told a Venezuelan delegation in Washington that the South American nation's political disruptions have created serious doubts about its standing in the oil world.

They were told the way to restore the reputation was for the government and opposition to work out their differences.

The Venezuelan delegation passed on that word to officials in their nation.

Venezuela has been a leading source of U-S oil imports. But a general strike in Venezuela paralyzed the oil industry for a time -- and many analysts chalk that up for part of the low

www.alertnet.org 27 Feb 2003 01:38

(Adds details, quotes, background)

By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela said on Wednesday it would close for one day on Thursday because of a security threat received after bomb blasts at two other foreign diplomatic buildings in Caracas.

"The U.S. Embassy in Caracas has received a credible threat to its security and will be closed to the public on Thursday, February 27, 2003," the embassy said in a statement.

"We received sufficiently reliable information of a possible attack so we decided to close for the day," embassy press counselor Phillip Parkerson told reporters.

The mission was expected to reopen Friday, he added.

Embassy officials declined to give further details or say whether the threat was related to powerful bomb attacks that badly damaged the Spanish Embassy cooperation office and the Colombian consulate in Caracas early on Tuesday.

The explosions injured five people less than 48 hours after leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sharply accused Spain, Colombia and the United States Sunday of meddling in his country's political crisis.

In Washington, U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States Roger Noriega repeated U.S. condemnation of the bomb attacks. But he also questioned the Chavez government's commitment to honoring a non-violence agreement it had signed with political opponents last week.

"There can be little doubt that President Chavez' belligerent rhetoric has contributed to a climate of tension that does not contribute to the search for a peaceful solution," Noriega told the OAS' Permanent Council.

He added the recent events in Venezuela, including the arrest of a prominent anti-Chavez business leader, "raises questions about the Government of Venezuela's commitment to honoring the non-violence agreement".

Ambassador Jorge Valero, Venezuela's representative to the OAS, said the United States was "making very doubtful interpretations" by linking the bombings to Chavez' rhetoric.

"In the name of the Venezuelan government," he said, "I categorically reject these interpretations."

U.S. OIL INTEREST

The United States, Spain and Colombia had expressed concern over the arrest last week of Carlos Fernandez, one of the leaders of an opposition strike in December and January that slashed oil output by the world's No. 5 petroleum exporter.

Clients affected included the United States, which normally got more than 13 percent of its oil imports from Venezuela.

The U.S. State Department said Wednesday it wanted to see Venezuela restore full oil production and resume its traditional position as a "reliable oil supplier" to the U.S..

"We hope that Venezuelans -- both the government and those involved in the strike -- will take the necessary additional steps to return (state oil company) PDVSA to its full production capacity," spokesman Lou Fintor said in Washington.

He was speaking after Assistant Secretary of State Anthony Wayne had talks at the State Department with Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez and PDVSA President Ali Rodriguez.

Anti-Chavez business chief Fernandez is currently under house arrest facing charges of rebellion.

Several thousand anti-government protesters marched in Caracas Wednesday in a show of support for Fernandez and Carlos Ortega, another strike leader who is in hiding after a judge also ordered his arrest.

A Caracas court issued new arrest orders Wednesday for seven other alleged oil strike leaders, local media reported.

Chavez's government has firmly rejected any link between Tuesday's bomb blasts and the president's recent aggressive criticism of the United States, Spain and Colombia.

Ministers suggested the opposition would have more to gain by trying to isolate the government internationally.

Senior government officials met with foreign ambassadors in Caracas Wednesday to coordinate tightening security at diplomatic missions in the Venezuelan capital.

Chavez, who was first elected in 1998 and survived a coup last year, is accused by foes of being a dictator and trying to drag his country toward Cuba-style communism. He says a rich minority elite is opposed to his self-styled "revolution".

No one has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attacks but leaflets were found at the scene signed by the "Bolivarian Liberation Force - Coordinadora Simon Bolivar urban militias", a known pro-Chavez radical group. Government officials said the leaflets were intended to mislead investigators.

Noriega said the United States supported ongoing efforts by OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria to try to broker a negotiated agreement on elections between the feuding Venezuelan government and its foes.

Gaviria, who was also publicly warned by Chavez Sunday not to meddle in Venezuela's affairs, was due to chair the next session of negotiations in Caracas scheduled for Thursday.

abcnews.go.com The Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela Feb. 26 —

A march by thousands of anti-government protesters forced the suspension of talks aimed at ending Venezuela's political turmoil Wednesday, while the U.S. Embassy beefed up security following "credible" threats.

Marching just days after the arrest of a leader of a crippling two-month strike, the demonstrators dared President Hugo Chavez's government to jail them, waving placards reading "Chavez, your mask is off, dictator!" and "Put us all in prison!"

Talks between government and opposition delegates were scheduled to begin mid-afternoon Wednesday, but the marchers' route passed by the negotiations venue, forcing their rescheduling until Thursday.

Protest leader Carlos Fernandez has been ordered under house arrest to face rebellion and other charges for leading the 63-day general strike against Chavez. Police are searching for strike co-leader and labor boss Carlos Ortega.

The protesters marched past the Fedecamaras business chamber of which Fernandez is president and ended at the labor confederation headquarters where Ortega is president. There were no reports of violence.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy closed Wednesday after receiving "credible information of a threat to its security," a statement said. The closure came a day after two bombs ravaged Colombian and Spanish diplomatic missions, injuring four people and generating fears that the nation's political crisis was entering a more violent phase.

At a U.S. request, Venezuelan officials said they sent more than a dozen federal agents, national guardsmen and municipal police to boost security around the embassy, which wasn't expected to reopen until Friday.

"Practically all the security, protection and surveillance measures have been taken," said Dany Azuaje, police coordinator for the interior ministry.

No one claimed responsibility for Tuesday's bombings, which blew out ceilings and twisted metal street signs. Both sides in Venezuela's conflict blamed each other and the finger-pointing threatened to undermine Organization of American States-sponsored negotiations.

"Negotiations, it seems, are becoming less and less viable as the days go on," said Michael Shifter, an analyst at the Washington-based Inter-American Dialogue think tank.

Leaflets supporting Chavez were found near both blasts. They were seized on by the opposition as evidence that the attacks were carried out by government sympathizers.

Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel ridiculed these suggestions and said opponents of the president might have been involved.

Fernandez's arrest came just days after the sides signed an agreement rejecting violence and provocative language.

"The government is violating and walking all over the agreement that we signed when the ink has not even dried," said Americo Martin, one of the opposition delegates at the peace talks.

The opposition leader said he would fight the detention order. "I'm a political prisoner," he said from his home.

Chavez called Fernandez and Ortega "terrorists" on Sunday for commanding the opposition movement that paralyzed much of Venezuela and cost more than $4 billion, hitting the oil industry hardest.

He also lambasted representatives of the Spanish and Colombian governments, together with the United States and OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria, for "meddling in Venezuela's affairs." These comments, say opposition leaders, directly provoked the embassy attacks.

In a statement, government negotiators said they rejected any attempts to take Venezuela's internal politics to an outside arena. They warned of a "clear break within the opposition and the emergence of an ultra-radical sector which has definitively taken the shortcut of terrorism and risk."

usinfo.state.gov 26 February 2003

(U.S. envoy to OAS says rhetoric adds to "climate of tension") (1040)

Recent "belligerent rhetoric" by President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has contributed to a "climate of tension" that does not contribute to the search for a peaceful solution to the political stand-off in that Andean nation, says Roger Noriega, U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States (OAS).

In February 26 remarks to a meeting of the OAS Permanent Council, Noriega said the United States "strongly condemns" the February 25 bombings in Caracas of the Spanish Agency for Technical Cooperation and the Colombian Consulate. Noriega said the United States hopes that an "expeditious and thorough investigation into the bombings will be conducted and that those responsible will be held accountable."

Noriega said that pamphlets found at the scene of these bombings "echoed some of the heated rhetoric of Venezuelan government officials from the previous days."

"This very fact," Noriega said, "reinforces why it is important that all sides in the Venezuelan dispute respect a non-violence agreement," signed February 19 by the government of Venezuela and opposition negotiators. That agreement, Noriega said, represents an important step toward improving Venezuela's "troubled political climate."

The U.S. official expressed concern over intemperate comments by Chavez, who on February 23 sharply criticized Spain, Colombia, and the United States, and admonished all countries in the Western Hemisphere to "stop meddling" in Venezuela's internal affairs, as well as telling OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria that he was "out of line" for his efforts to bring about a dialogue between the government and the political opposition.

Noriega said Chavez' comments were "surprising in light of the fact that the OAS member states and the OAS secretary general have become involved in Venezuela at the invitation of the government of Venezuela with the express purpose of helping Venezuelans overcome the current polarization" in that country.

Following is the text of Noriega's prepared remarks:

(begin text)

Statement by Ambassador Roger F. Noriega U.S. Permanent Representative to the OAS Statement on Violence and Detentions in Venezuela Meeting of the Permanent Council of the OAS February 26, 2003

Last week on February 18, the Government of Venezuela and opposition negotiators at the OAS dialogue table facilitated by OAS Secretary General Gaviria signed a Non-Violence Agreement that committed both the government and the opposition to:

-- Reject confrontational rhetoric and to moderate the tone, style and content of the public discourse;

-- Denounce all types of violence;

-- Call on the Venezuelan people and authorities to respect the Constitution and the laws;

-- Reject any manifestation of violence and intolerance;

-- Create the conditions for peace;

-- Call on the Venezuelan people to respect human rights and to reject direct or indirect threats of violence; and

-- Respect freedom of expression, as established in the Venezuelan Constitution.

The signing of this Non-Violence Agreement represented a very important step forward toward improving Venezuela's troubled political climate. The accord embodies the political will on both sides to take advantage of the dialogue facilitated by Secretary General Cesar Gaviria. It also represents an important step forward in fulfilling the requirements of Permanent Council resolution 833, calling on Venezuelans to work toward a "peaceful, democratic, constitutional and electoral solution" to that country's political problems.

Immediately in the wake of this very hopeful development, however, emerged a disturbing series of events that raises questions about the Government of Venezuela's commitment to honoring the non-violence agreement:

The following day, February 19, Venezuelan authorities arrested and detained opposition leader Carlos Fernandez, the President of the Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce (FEDECAMERAS), and issued arrest orders for opposition leader Carlos Ortega, the President of the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV). President Chavez noted that this was a judicial measure, but nonetheless characterized Mr. Fernandez as a "terrorist."

Four days later, on February 23, President Chavez sharply criticized the Governments of Spain, Colombia, and the United States, and admonished all of the countries of this continent to "stop meddling" in Venezuela's internal affairs. President Chavez also used the media to send a message to our Secretary General -- who has spent the past four months arduously and delicately trying to facilitate dialogue in Venezuela's polarized, political environment -- that he was "out of line" and should keep his place.

President Chavez' comments are surprising in light of the fact that the OAS member states and the OAS Secretary General have become involved in Venezuela at the invitation of the Government of Venezuela with the express purpose of helping Venezuelans overcome the current polarization.

Two days after President Chavez' comments, on February 25, bombs exploded at the Spanish Agency for Technical Cooperation and the Colombian Consulate in Caracas. Pamphlets found on the scene of these acts of terrorism echoed some of the heated rhetoric of Venezuelan government officials from the preceding days. This very fact reinforces why it is important that all sides respect the Non-Violence Agreement's call for reducing rhetorical excesses.

In solidarity with the governments of Colombia and Spain, the United States strongly condemns the recent bombings and the use of any form of violence. We hope that an expeditious and thorough investigation into the bombings will be conducted and that those responsible will be held accountable. We note that Venezuelan authorities have pledged such action.

What is of even greater concern is the fact that these attacks on diplomatic missions are only the most recent in a series of deeply disturbing -- and still unexplained -- violent actions. The search for a peaceful, negotiated solution to Venezuela's crisis is made even more difficult when politically motivated violence (including killings) remain unsolved at the same time that political leaders are prosecuted vigorously.

The recent bombings are still being investigated, and it is too early to reach conclusions or assign responsibility.

Nevertheless, there can be little doubt that President Chavez' belligerent rhetoric has contributed to a climate of tension that does not contribute to the search for a peaceful solution.

The United States will continue to work with the Group of Friends of the Secretary General, and we commend the Secretary General's continued commitment to the dialogue process.

We urge other member states to support the full implementation of Permanent Council resolution 833.

(end text)

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www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

Spanish Premier Jose Maria Anzar says he will wait for the results of a thorough investigation into the bombing of the Spanish Embassy in Caracas before he passes any kind of judgment on what occured, and who could be held responsible.

"I am not going to make any kind of hypothesis. We are waiting for investigations and conclusions by the Venezuelan government which is responsible for guaranteeing safety in the country."

The Spanish Prime Minister then refused to link the attack to a statement by his Foreign Minister Ana Palacio, which had sparked a strong reaction from President Hugo Chavez Frias.

"The aim of the statement was to express the reasonable concern that any sensible person would naturally show in connection with Venezuela's situation ... we hope things can be solved in a context of normality, stability and democratic development."