Group of Friends: Urgent call for an electoral solution in Venezuela
<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News
Posted: Friday, May 09, 2003
By: VenAmCham
The Group of Friends concluded its visit to Venezuela with a communique making it clear that an electoral solution is needed to overcome the serious conflicts that prevail in Venezuelan society.
The group of six countries that support the work of OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria urged the participants in the negotiating round table to make strenuous efforts to overcome continuing differences between the parties. Brazilian Deputy Foreign Minister Gilberto Savoia spoke on the group's behalf, "stress(ing) the importance of an agreement as an indispensable step to strengthening trust and achieving a constructive political and electoral climate, as well as laying the groundwork for a reconciliation among the Venezuelans."
The group also issued a warning about violence and freedom of expression, reaffirming the importance of "a full implementation of the agreement against violence and for peace and democracy, as well as the need to maintain respect for freedom of expression, which must be exercised by the public and private media in a responsible and balanced fashion."
They also pointed out that the Venezuelans are responsible for their own destiny: "Venezuela's problems can, and must be resolved by the Venezuelans, in the framework of the country's Constitution and laws." But the prospect of the negotiating round table's dissolution raises doubts about what kind of agreement the government and the opposition could achieve.
The Venezuelan government clearly stated its intentions to the group of friends: putting an end to the negotiating round table moderated by the OAS Secretary General with the support of the Carter Center and the UNDP and moving the debate to the National Assembly (AN).
To that end the Group of Friends proposed signing a preliminary agreement at the round table without delay, and returning Cesar Gaviria to his office in Washington. The opposition takes the position that the government is doing everything it can to block the recall referendum against President Hugo Chavez Frias, and believes the Venezuelan people in the streets will be the ones to enforce the constitutional provisions.
Friends Group Calls for Venezuela Referendum
Fri May 9, 2003 02:55 PM ET
By Pascal Fletcher
CARACAS, Venezuela (<a href=reuters.com>Reuters) - Six nations seeking to end Venezuela's political crisis told President Hugo Chavez's government and its opponents on Friday to settle their differences and agree to hold a referendum on the leftist leader's rule.
In a statement released after two days of talks in Caracas, envoys from the so-called Group of Friends urged both sides to decide on a peaceful electoral solution to their conflict, which has kept the world's No. 5 oil exporter in political and economic turmoil for more than a year.
Chavez's government and its opponents have spent weeks haggling over the terms of a proposed agreement committing them to the holding of a constitutional referendum after Aug 19, halfway through the current term of the populist president.
The Group of Friends -- the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Spain and Portugal -- has since January been supporting efforts by the Organization of American States to broker an election deal in Venezuela.
In the statement read at a news conference, the Group noted both sides had expressed their willingness to reach agreement.
"The Group exhorts them to dedicate their utmost urgent efforts to overcome ... the differences that persist," said the statement, read by Brazil's representative Gilberto Saboia.
FIERCE OPPOSITION
Former paratrooper Chavez, who was first elected in 1998, has resisted a fierce opposition campaign pressing him to resign. The president, who is accused by foes of ruling like a dictator, survived a coup last year and weathered an opposition strike in December and January.
But despite the pressure for an accord, the two sides are still clearly at odds over key issues.
The government, citing national sovereignty, rejects the idea of international organizations like the OAS acting as guarantors of any future referendum. But the opposition, which accuses Chavez of trying to wriggle out of the referendum, says international pressure for the poll to be held is essential.
"I think it's possible there will be an agreement ... we exhort everyone to give that little bit more political will to get there," Curtis Struble, acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, told Reuters.
Government negotiators have insisted that before a referendum can be held, the National Assembly, where Chavez supporters still hold a slim majority, must elect a new electoral authority to set a date for the poll.
Government says farewell to Gaviria and assures Group of Friends the referendum is on
<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News
Posted: Friday, May 09, 2003
By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue
Speaking after meeting Organization of American States (OAS) general secretary Cesar Gaviria and members of the six-nation Group of Friends, Executive Vice President, Jose Vicente rangel has confirmed that the recall referendum will be held and that the government is open to signing an agreement with the opposition ... "Dialog is a constitutional right and we are fierce defenders of the Constitution."
Interpreting a bit of recent history, Rangel says rumors that the government was against an agreement were false ... "negotiators did not approve an agreement ... what was agreed was to pass the concluding document to colleagues for discussion."
OAS general secretary Cesar Gaviria thanked the government in the name of the deputy foreign ministers (Group of Friends) for the clarity of its message and the assurance that the recall referendum would be held, adding that the Group of Friends is convinced of the government's willingness to dialogue.
Venezuelan Education, Culture & Sports Minister Aristobulo Isturiz told the visitors that it was time for the National Assembly to resume its functions ... "what we want is a return to normality and a return to political normality."
This is the fourth time the Group of Friends has convened since it was founded in January 15 in Quito, Ecuador at the initiative of Brazil ... this is the second time it has convened in Caracas.
Analysts comment that the main aim of the Group of Friends to ensure elections and to get Venezuelans talking to each other again through the normal democratic channels.
One commentator says Gaviria will be only too pleased to close shop and return to his pressing duties at the OAS ... he's been in Venezuela for the best part of six months attempting to restore democratic coexistence to a highly polarized country.
U.S., Brazil Fail to Broker Venezuelan Referendum Agreement
Caracas, May 9 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- The U.S., Brazil and Spain ended meetings between Venezuela's government and opposition without reaching agreement to hold a referendum on President Hugo Chavez's rule.
Representatives of the Group of Friends, as the negotiators from six countries that also include Portugal, Mexico and Chile are known, ended two days of talks with each side.
``The group urges the two sides to make maximum and urgent efforts to overcome their differences,'' Brazilian diplomat Gilberto Saboia read from a statement.
The group is counting on a referendum to end more than a year of political strife in Venezuela, South America's largest oil producer. Chavez, who was deposed in April 2002 for two days in a failed coup attempt, has faced repeated demands that he step down or submit to a referendum.
The two sides reached a tentative agreement brokered by the Organization of American States to hold a referendum. Chavez later rejected the pact.
Polls show that Chavez would lose by a large majority if a referendum were held. Under Venezuela's constitution, a referendum can be held any time after Aug. 19, when Chavez passes the mid- point of his six-year term in office.
Last Updated: May 9, 2003 13:26 EDT
Tentative Deal Reached in Bid for Venezuela Referendum
<a href=www.voanews.com>VOA News-AP
09 May 2003, 12:37 UTC
Hugo ChavezNegotiators for the Venezuelan government and opposition groups say they have reached a tentative agreement to hold a referendum on President Hugo Chavez's rule, although the government objects to international observers overseeing the vote.
Opposition members have been pushing for a referendum for some time. During talks in Caracas Thursday, government representatives said they would allow a referendum to go forward, but only if there would be no monitoring by international observers, on the grounds this would threaten Venezuelan sovereignty.
Government and opposition officials met separately Thursday with diplomats from the so-called Group of Friends of Venezuela - comprising Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and the United States.
Since January, the six-member diplomatic group has supported efforts to negotiate a peaceful solution to the long-running turmoil that triggered a brief military coup last year against President Chavez. The latest negotiations come three months after an opposition-led general strike failed to force Mr. Chavez to resign and call early elections.
The opposition charges the Venezuelan president is ruining the economy by trying to model the country after Communist Cuba. Mr. Chavez says his adversaries are responsible for the economic downturn.