abcnews.go.com — By Pascal Fletcher

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Foes of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, struggling to maintain the momentum of a 54-day-old strike, lobbied on Friday for international pressure to push the leftist leader to accept early elections.

As the strike moved toward its ninth week, opposition negotiators were in Washington, where a group of six nations formed to tackle the Venezuelan crisis was due to hold its first meeting at the Organization of American States.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was due to outline proposals to end the crisis at the Washington meeting.

The opposition shutdown has slashed oil output by the world's No. 5 petroleum exporter, pushing up world prices. It has also triggered a fiscal crisis for the Venezuelan government, forcing it to suspend foreign exchange trading and cut back budget spending by 10 percent.

But, in a sign that Chavez is making some headway in his efforts to break the strike, oil production and exports have been rising again. Still, oil exports, the country's economic lifeblood, were only a quarter of normal levels.

The six-nation "group of friends" comprises the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Spain and Portugal.

Venezuelan oil supplies to the United States, normally over 13 percent of total U.S. oil imports, have been disrupted by the strike, just when the United States is preparing for a possible war on Iraq.

The "friends" group was created last week to back ongoing efforts by OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria to broker a peace deal between Chavez and his opponents, who are pressing the populist president to resign and hold early elections.

FEAR OF INTERNAL CONFLICT

Opposition negotiators said they hoped the group could exert pressure on Chavez to accept the idea of a negotiated electoral solution to end the crisis, which has raised fears of a violent, uncontrollable internal conflict in Venezuela.

"We must be optimistic ... The group can be very important to strengthen the civilized, peaceful option (of elections) to solve our problems," Alejandro Armas of the Coordinadora Democratica opposition coalition told local radio in Caracas, speaking by telephone from Washington.

The opposition negotiators were planning to meet with foreign ministers from the "friends group," which included Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Chavez, a former paratrooper who survived a brief coup last year, is resisting calls for early elections and has vowed to beat the strike. He accuses his opponents of trying to topple him from power by wrecking the economy.

"We do not negotiate with terrorists. We do not negotiate with coup-mongers. We defeat them," he told tens of thousands of supporters who rallied in central Caracas Thursday.

Chavez has also expressed objections to the six-nation "friends" group, saying he thinks it should be expanded to include other nations like Russia, China and Cuba, which he views as friendly to his government.

His opponents say the president, who Thursday threatened to close hostile private television channels and take over banks which joined the strike, is ruling like a dictator. They accuse him of trying to install Cuba-style communism in Venezuela.

The polarized positions and increasing outbreaks of violence have added urgency to international peace efforts.

CLASHES BETWEEN PROTESTERS

Police said a grenade exploded Thursday near the pro-Chavez rally in Caracas, killing one man and wounding 15. At least six people have died in shootings and clashes between rival protesters since the opposition strike began on Dec. 2.

Anger and frustration have also been stoked by shortages of gasoline and some food items caused by the shutdown, which has closed many private business, shopping malls and franchises.

Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, is proposing two options: one for an amendment to Venezuela's constitution to trigger early elections and the other for an Aug. 19 referendum.

Chavez has already said he is willing to abide by the result of the binding revocatory referendum on his rule which the constitution foresees after Aug. 19, half way through his current term due to end in early 2007.

He has also agreed to the constitutional amendment proposal provided that it follows the correct legal procedures.

But his foes say they do not trust him and that the crisis-hit country cannot wait until August for elections.

Chavez, who was elected in 1998, has proved many pundits wrong by resisting the crippling strike for so long.

"Time ticks on and weeks go by and, if anything, the opposition is showing signs of weakness," Arturo Valenzuela, Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, told Reuters. (Additional reporting by Patrick Markey)

www.voanews.com VOA News 24 Jan 2003, 15:41 UTC

A six-nation group including Brazil, Chile and the United States is to meet in Washington Friday, in another effort to help resolve Venezuela's political crisis.

The so-called "group of friends" is to convene at the headquarters of the Organization of American States.

The group, which also includes Mexico, Spain and Portugal, has been trying to mediate talks between Venezuela's government and the opposition. On Thursday, a bomb blast killed one person and wounded at least 14 others at a pro-government rally in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

Officials said the blast spread shrapnel through the crowd that had gathered to show support for embattled President Hugo Chavez. Mr. Chavez was at the event, but several blocks away at the time of the explosion. Venezuela's oil-rich economy has been crippled by a general strike, now in its 54th day, called by opposition groups in a bid to force President Chavez from office.

www.cnn.com Friday, January 24, 2003 Posted: 11:00 AM EST (1600 GMT)

As long as this group supports an electoral and peaceful solution to Venezuela's crisis, our efforts will coincide with theirs.

-- Alejandro Armas, opposition negotiator

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuela's opposition leaders took their case against President Hugo Chavez to Washington on Friday, joining six nations to discuss ending the country's strike.

Chavez's opponents were to meet with delegates of six nations that support negotiations mediated by the Organization of American States. Among the proposals is one offered by former President Jimmy Carter to end the 54-day-old strike in exchange for early elections.

Venezuela's opposition called the strike December 2 to demand that Chavez resign or call early elections. The protests have crippled production in the world's fifth largest oil exporter.

Opposition leaders contend Chavez's leftist policies have damaged business and scared away foreign investment.

"As long as this group supports an electoral and peaceful solution to Venezuela's crisis, our efforts will coincide with theirs," Alejandro Armas, an opposition negotiator, told local Union Radio from Washington on Friday. "We need to be sympathetic, optimistic and supportive of this initiative."

The countries attending the talks are the United States, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal and Spain.

Chavez has said he welcomed international help but warned against outside intervention in Venezuela's affairs. He urged the six nations to recognize that he was elected democratically and warned them not to give equal weight to an "undemocratic" opposition.

Pipe bomb explodes at massive pro-Chavez rally

Adding to the tension, a pipe bomb exploded in downtown Caracas on Thursday, killing one and wounding at least 14 as about 300,000 people were rallying to support Chavez.

Authorities sort through trash near the site of the bomb blast.

A homeless man who was rummaging in the trash where the bomb was apparently hidden was killed in the blast, said Col. Rodolfo Briceno, the Caracas fire chief.

The rally went on as planned, with Chavez insisting that his left-wing, populist regime would outlast the strike.

Chavez accused strike leaders and the Venezuelan news media of using the strike to weaken the economy and orchestrate a coup like the one in April that briefly forced him from office.

"The Venezuelan people don't want violence," Chavez told the crowd.

The rally followed a decision earlier this week by Venezuela's supreme court to invalidate a planned February 2 referendum aimed at forcing Chavez from power -- a nonbinding vote that he had declared unconstitutional.

Most blue-collar workers and half the administrators have returned to work at the state oil monopoly and production has surpassed 1 million barrels a day, the company's president, Ali Rodriguez, told the state news agency Venpres Thursday.

Union and striking oil executives disputed his claims about the work force and insisted production is about 812,000 barrels a day. Pre-strike production was about 3.2 million barrels a day.

money.cnn.com Shipments of 688,000 barrels per day leaves country at 25% of capacity as strike carries on. January 24, 2003: 10:54 AM EST

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan oil exports jumped 62 percent in the week ending Friday to 688,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 25 percent of capacity, as the government struggled to break a strike in the world's fifth-largest exporter, shipping data showed Friday.

Oil exports in the seven days to Friday stood at 688,000 bpd, up from 424,000 bpd in the previous week, according to information from ship agents and port authorities.

Venezuela exported 2.7 million bpd before the strike, which is intended to force President Hugo Chavez from office, and exports have averaged 519,000 bpd during the past four weeks.

"Exports are rising a bit, but they still face big problems getting foreign shippers to come back," said a Venezuelan ship agent.

Chavez is trying to break the seven-week-old strike by using troops and replacement crews at the terminals, but many lack certification to handle oil, safety standards are poor and missing documentation make insurance risks high.

Most Venezuelan refineries are shut or severely crippled, and Caracas has resorted to importing big volumes of gasoline from international markets to ease severe fuel shortages.

Three companies are regularly importing Venezuelan oil from mainland ports: U.S. refiner and marketer Citgo, fully owned by Venezuelan state company Petroleos de Venezuela; Lyondell Citgo, an affiliate; and Cuban state oil company Cupet.  

money.cnn.com Shipments of 688,000 barrels per day leaves country at 25% of capacity as strike carries on. January 24, 2003: 10:54 AM EST

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan oil exports jumped 62 percent in the week ending Friday to 688,000 barrels per day (bpd), or 25 percent of capacity, as the government struggled to break a strike in the world's fifth-largest exporter, shipping data showed Friday.

Oil exports in the seven days to Friday stood at 688,000 bpd, up from 424,000 bpd in the previous week, according to information from ship agents and port authorities.

Venezuela exported 2.7 million bpd before the strike, which is intended to force President Hugo Chavez from office, and exports have averaged 519,000 bpd during the past four weeks.

"Exports are rising a bit, but they still face big problems getting foreign shippers to come back," said a Venezuelan ship agent.

Chavez is trying to break the seven-week-old strike by using troops and replacement crews at the terminals, but many lack certification to handle oil, safety standards are poor and missing documentation make insurance risks high.

Most Venezuelan refineries are shut or severely crippled, and Caracas has resorted to importing big volumes of gasoline from international markets to ease severe fuel shortages.

Three companies are regularly importing Venezuelan oil from mainland ports: U.S. refiner and marketer Citgo, fully owned by Venezuelan state company Petroleos de Venezuela; Lyondell Citgo, an affiliate; and Cuban state oil company Cupet.