www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, January 26, 2003 - 1:35:54 AM By: Robert Rudnicki

Following the initial meeting of the "Friends of Venezuela" group in Washington on Friday, the Foreign Ministers of Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and the United States took the decision to send a high-level delegation to Venezuela to assist Organization of American States (OAS) secretary general, Cesar Gaviria, in finding a peaceful and democratic solution to Venezuela's ongoing political crisis.

The meeting also discussed former US President Jimmy Carter's proposals for a resolution. Following talks with President Hugo Chavez Frias and opposition leaders, Carter had proposed two alternatives for a resolution to the impasse.

The first would involve an amendment to the Constitution, which would permit early general elections, while the second would see the opposition waiting for a revocatory referendum in August, the earliest date the current Constitution permits.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who attended the early stages of the meeting, backed the former President's moves for peace ... "the Carter proposals represent the best path available for Venezuelans. They provide the badly needed basis on which both sides can bridge their differences on the immediate issues."

Meanwhile, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said "the problem of Venezuela is a problem of great urgency that requires therefore that we act immediately."

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, January 26, 2003 - 3:19:12 AM By: Robert Rudnicki

With the opposition work stoppage about to enter its eighth week, Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Fedecamaras) president Carlos Fernandez said the opposition would rethink its strategy after February 2, the date it had hoped to hold a consultative referendum on President Hugo Chavez Frias' rule. The referendum was suspended last week following a Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) ruling that stated that all National Electoral College (CNE) decisions were to be declared void, because of concerns over CNE board member, Leopoldo Pizani's eligibility. 

The opposition will now hold a symbolic referendum on February 2, and the next day its new strategy will commence. This new plan could include the suspension of the national work stoppage, "although the fight will continue ... we are negotiating and we will see if the conditions are right to end the strike."

Fernandez also said that a nationwide information campaign would be organized to let workers know how "how we can help them." the Fedecamaras chief also promised to assist all petroleum workers that have supported the stoppage, including those that have since been fired. 

Meanwhile, Confederation of Trade Unions president Carlos Ortega said further meetings would be necessary to bring the crisis to an end, put that the population of Venezuela, particularly the military, had made in very clear that they want both sides to remain within the Constitution.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Sunday, January 26, 2003 - 1:38:00 AM By: Robert Rudnicki

Foreign Minister (MRE) Roy Chaderton Matos has told reporters that the government is willing to support any proposals to end the current political deadlock, as long as they are within the Venezuelan Constitution.

The MRE Minister also urged both sides of the political divide to tone down their rhetoric and called for an end to the rising spiral of violence in the country ... "we need guarantees, because we have a very violent and irrational opposition."

Chaderton Matos also renewed President Hugo Chavez Frias' call for the eventual expansion of the "Friends of Venezuela" group from the current six members ... Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and the United States ... to include other nations like Algeria, Cuba, China, France and Russia.

Last week, Cuban leader Fidel Castro warned President Chavez Frias that the current group is made upmainly of  enemies rather than friends ... alleging that most of the countries involved had helped out in the failed April 11 coup d'etat, which briefly removed the President form office. Castro also said that, if President Chavez Frias called for his involvement, he would be willing to consider assisting the group.

www.newsday.com By Letta Tayler LATIN AMERICA CORRESPONDENT January 26, 2003

Caracas - Belen Coronado, a retired court employee, doesn't permit political discussion in the Caracas apartment she shares with her daughter and son-in-law. "If we talk politics, we argue," she explained.

Coronado, 69, is a fan of populist President Hugo Chávez. Her daughter, Natalia Coronado, and son-in-law, Tony Ponce, a food distributor, back an 8-week-old national strike that aims to topple the leftist leader.

Briefly lifting the ban on political discussion for a visitor one recent afternoon, the usually soft-spoken relatives remained polite for about a minute before the barbs began to fly across their comfortable living room.

"We've had it with Chávez, We want him out now," said Natalia, 29, a homemaker, her voice prickling with anger.

"Then you're willing to break with the Constitution," her mother shot back, noting that the law will permit Venezuelans to call a binding referendum on truncating Chávez's six-year term only after its midpoint in August.

"Chávez doesn't respect the Constitution either, and he's ruining the economy," counter-attacked Ponce, 32.

The polarization within Venezuela over Chávez's presidency is widely assumed to pit rich against poor. While in many cases that is the case, the fault line also cuts through social classes, institutions and professions, further complicating efforts to unify a nation teetering on chaos.

"The tensions generated within families who are divided over the president are profound and unprecedented," said Luís Vicente León, who heads the Caracas-based Datanalisis polling company.

"It's turning brother against sister and cousin against cousin," said Elizabeth de Barnola, 54, a Caracas leather merchant whose family is split over Chávez.

In a half-century of democracy, members of Venezuela's tightly knit families often have held divergent political views. In the past, however, "these distinctions were 'light,' generating the kind of discussion one hears among fans of different baseball teams," León said.

In contrast, political experts say, the flamboyant Chávez - a former paratrooper who led a failed coup in 1992 and was elected by huge margins six years later - incites extreme hatred or adulation with his combative rhetoric and autocratic style, particularly as the country slides further into inflation, unemployment and violence.

With Chávez having largely failed in his campaign pledges to distribute the nation's vast oil wealth among the poor, numerous polls show him popular among only 30 percent of Venezuelans, far fewer than the 80 percent who live below the poverty line.

At the same time, one in five middle-class or wealthy Venezuelans supports the president, León said.

They include Belen Coronado, a diminutive, unassuming woman who lost 15 years' worth of her modest pension benefits - almost half the total - under austerity measures instituted by one of Chávez's predecessors.

Although she now lives in a comfortable apartment appointed with oil paintings and a crystal chandelier, Coronado remembers waiting in lines for food handouts during acute economic crises under previous regimes.

"Finally, for the first time in more than 40 years, we have a president who wants to help the poor instead of only helping the elite," she said.

"There are more poor children walking the streets now than there ever were before Chávez," rebutted her daughter, momentarily losing her own quiet poise.

"You can't expect a president to turn the country around in a few years," Coronado countered, adding that the opposition is "committing a crime against young children" by closing schools as part of strike actions.

For the indefinite future, Coronado has banned her daughter and son-in-law from watching news on the television in the living room, because all but one of Venezuela's highly politicized networks broadcast almost nothing but criticism of the government and praise for the strike.

If Natalia Coronado wants to join the cacerolazos, the nightly protests in which Chávez opponents march through the streets banging on pots and pans, her mother has decreed that she may do so only from the apartment's fifth-floor window. Should Natalia participate in a march, her mother flatly refuses to baby-sit.

Natalia circumvents that ban by leaving her 2-year-old daughter with her husband, who's been home every day since Dec. 2 because he has joined the anti-Chávez strike.

"I resent it that I can't express myself politically in my own home," Natalia said.

"What you're expressing is a hatred that will eat you up inside," her mother rejoined.

Since the severe rupture over Chávez began a few years ago, "everyone has begun to express their differences," said Caracas sociologist Mercedes Pulido. "The problem is, no one accepts them. What we need is a leader who can heal the wounds."

If the next president is elected peacefully, families will mend their internal rifts more easily, Pulido predicted. "But if it ends by insurrections or violence, it will be more difficult."

Asked if they would forgive and forget their political differences if Chávez is unseated through widespread violence, Belen and Natalia Coronado shifted in their seats and looked at each other expectantly across their marble coffee table.

"I hope so," the daughter said.

"I don't think so," the mother answered, gently but firmly.

news.bbc.co.uk Sunday, 26 January, 2003, 02:26 GMT

Venezuela has been gripped by almost daily street protests

Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have gathered on one of the main roads in the capital, Caracas, to demand the resignation of the country's president, Hugo Chavez.

Chavez has refused to step down

The rally - intended to last 24 hours - was called in protest against a court decision to block a referendum on President Chavez's rule, which opponents say is dictatorial.

Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter, has been gripped by the eight-week strike, which has caused severe fuel and some food shortages.

President Chavez is refusing to step down, saying his opponents are being manipulated by Venezuela's wealthy elite.

At least six people have been killed in clashes between Mr Chavez's supporters and opponents since the strike began last December.

Devastating strike

The protesters have accused Mr Chavez of behaving like a dictator and mismanaging the economy and have called on him to resign or call early elections.

The strike has harmed oil output

They flooded a four-kilometre stretch (2.5 miles) of the major highway, chanting "Until he goes!" and waving the national colours of the Venezuelan flag.

Many took tents and sleeping bags to stay overnight, while others carried folding chairs, portable television sets and radios.

They are protesting against last week's decision by the Supreme Court to postpone a referendum on Mr Chavez's rule scheduled on 2 February - six months before a binding popular vote is due.

The president's opponents had gathered the required two million signatures to press for the vote.

They strike, which started on 2 December, has almost paralysed Venezuela's oil industry.

But there have been signs that the government has made some headway in breaking the oil stoppage, with latest shipping data showing that oil exports have increased.

'Friendly' pressure

As the political crisis continues, Venezuela is coming under increasing pressure to reach a diplomatic solution.

On Friday, the six-nation Group of Friends agreed in Washington to send a high-level mission to Venezuela next week to try to find a compromise.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell told his colleagues from Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal and Spain that Mr Chavez should either hold early elections or call a referendum on his leadership.

The peace proposals - presented by former US President Jimmy Carter - put forward two alternatives:

• either to let the country vote on a constitutional amendment that would allow early elections
• or to wait until August - half-way through Mr Chavez's mandated office - when the constitution allows for a binding referendum on the president's mandate

Correspondents say as Venezuela is a strategic supplier of fuel to the US, Washington is particularly keen to end the crisis.

But they say the latest demonstration shows that there is little immediate sign of a solution.