sf.indymedia.org by Bolivarian Solidarity Network / copytrastor • Tuesday January 21, 2003 at 12:29 PM

Bolivarian Solidarity Network is presenting today its complaints about Lula's initiative of an International Group of Countries "friends of Venezuela" to help out finding a solution to Venezuelan crisis. Also they state that "We must be alert because the US government and the opposition are looking forward to create conditions to overthrow the Venezuelan government".

----- Original Message ----- From: Bolivarian Solidarity Network To: lasolidarity@topica.com Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 12:58 AM Subject: LASC: Venezuela in critical period.

Dear friends,

Under the advice of Lula (who promised to work everything out) Chavez decided to accept an "unfriendly" group of Venezuelan friends.

The government stated that the acceptance of this group of friends--United States, Mexico, Spain, Chile, Portugal, and Brazil--will be under the premise that these countries will state their support to the Venezuelan constitution and will openly express their rejection to the opposition attempts to overthrow Chavez's democratically elected government. It is not clear how the Venezuelan government is going to obtain these statements because the group is already formed, and there is not a special protocol to sign.

In an additional note, the government stated their desire to continue looking for friends elsewhere. We must remember that the United States and Spain recognized the dictatorship of Pedro Carmona after the April coup d'etat in Venezuela. Mexico kept an ambiguous position in April and recently called for not supporting the Chavez government because the opposition could consider it an intromission in Venezuelan internal affairs. Chile and Portugal have been critics of Chavez government in the international arena. We are not sure if Brazil is a friend now. Really!

The government also decided not to abandon the dialogue with the opposition for now, hoping that the presence of Jimmy Carter in Caracas will help the process. Although Chavez stated that: "We in the government ... are considering withdrawing our team from the negotiating table because those people (the opposition) are showing no sign that they really want to choose the democratic path."

The opposition is covertly calling for an increase of violent activities on the streets, the sabotage of the oil industry, and the electric system. The police have confiscated documents on this regard and people have visited TV stations to denounce the situation. They are also calling for the formation of "emergency-units" in wealthy and middle-class neighborhoods, and for the identification of government sympathizers in those areas in support of actions that are to take place by the end of the month. Pure Fascism and terrorism.

After his recent trip to the United States, Carlos Ortega, a top member of the CTV and the opposition also stated that they were not alone in this struggle (in a clear reference to the meeting they had with Otto Reich, people from the State Department, and with business people from the United States).

We must be alert because the US government and the opposition are looking forward to create conditions to overthrow the Venezuelan government.

Bolivarian Solidarity Network

The Latin American Solidarity Conference website can be found at www.lasolidarity.org

www.guardian.co.uk Leader Monday January 20, 2003 The Guardian

As the long-running political crisis in Venezuela begins to have an ever-greater international impact, efforts to end a divisive general strike and get the country back to work continue to founder. Until this week, outside mediation intended to defuse the confrontation between President Hugo Chavez and his vociferous opponents has been led by Cesar Gaviria, secretary-general of the Organisation of American States. But Mr Gaviria has made no headway and has now been reinforced by a new group, to be known as the Friends of Venezuela, initiated by the new Brazilian president, Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva, and including Mexico, Chile, Spain, Portugal and the US. It is not yet clear what the "friends" may propose - but the problem is plain enough. Venezuela, losing $50m a day and moving ever closer to bankruptcy, escalating violence and possible civil war, cannot afford to allow the present situation to continue unresolved. The neighbours, and in particular the US, think so too.

Washington, unsurprisingly given its disproportionate wealth and power, has more to lose than most. Venezuela supplies about one-sixth of US oil imports or did so, at least, until managers at the state oil company joined the anti-Chavez rebellion at a cost to their country so far of $4bn. Non-emergency US crude stocks are now touching a 27-year low and pump prices are rising, just as its designs on Iraq threaten to disrupt Middle Eastern supply. For the US, the problem is increasingly strategic, not local.

Despite this growing sense of urgency and a clear US temptation to try to take charge, the damage caused by Washington's perceived backing for last year's abortive coup against Mr Chavez has taught it to tread warily. Last week, controversial Latin American policy chief Otto Reich was moved to a lesser position. The state department has meanwhile taken to emphasising the need for a "peaceful, constitutional, democratic and electoral" solution. Regional leader Brazil would in any case be likely to oppose any US attempt to force the pace and warns that "aiming for magic solutions could lead to more violent conflicts". Indeed, Mr da Silva is far from unsympathetic to Mr Chavez, and rightly so. While both have their flaws, both are elected presidents attempting to reform badly run countries, raise the poor and reverse decades of entrenched injustice. Pressure from special interests, from whatever quarter, should be resisted.

www.alertnet.org   20 Jan 2003 21:03

BRASILIA, Brazil, Jan 20 (Reuters) - A coalition of nations seeking to help Venezuela negotiate an end to a seven-week-old strike against President Hugo Chavez will begin talks on Friday in Washington, Brazil's foreign minister said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters in Brasilia, Celso Amorim said the meeting would bring together the foreign ministers of a "group of friends" comprising Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Spain, Portugal and the United States.

The group, spearheaded by Brazil's new leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was created last week to aid talks led by the head of the Organization of American States, Cesar Gaviria.

Chavez, who was briefly deposed in a botched coup last April, has cast doubts on the plan by threatening to pull out of the OAS talks and insisting Lula's group be expanded to include other countries such as Russia, Cuba and France.

Brazil has resisted, arguing the coalition is already balanced.

Negotiations between Chavez and his foes have been deadlocked for weeks, raising international concern over global oil supplies at a time when energy markets are jittery over a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq. Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest petroleum exporter and supplies about one-sixth of U.S. oil imports.

Chavez has dismissed his opponents as "terrorists and fascists," refusing to step down or call early elections. His critics accuse him of seeking to turn the country into a Cuban-style authoritarian state.

www.accessatlanta.com Ex-president seeks end to 8-week-old crisis

By SUSAN FERRISS The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Former President Jimmy Carter met Monday with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and opposition figures for talks on how to resolve the country's political crisis and end a devastating 8-week-old anti-government strike.

An anti-government protester was killed Monday and 12 were wounded by gunfire during an anti-Chavez march in a community outside Caracas. Six people have died in gunfire during protests since the strike began.

Carter, who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize last month, emerged from Chavez's Miraflores Palace and told reporters in Spanish that his initial meeting with Chavez was "very positive."

Venezuela was the world's fifth biggest oil producer before the strike and supplied the United States with 15 percent of its petroleum imports. But striking national oil workers have nearly paralyzed the industry, in an action that is costing Venezuela $50 million a day.

The strike has shut down factories and shopping centers, and caused food and gasoline shortages. Motorists have to wait in lines as long as eight hours for fuel.

"President Carter is coming at a very difficult time," said Cesar Gaviria, secretary general of the Organization of American States. Gaviria also met with Carter in Caracas.

"Circumstances have changed a lot in the last few days. There's much more tension," said Gaviria, who has been struggling to negotiate a solution.

This weekend, Chavez threatened to pull out of negotiations and complained about a new "Friends of Venezuela" group that is trying to broker a deal. The group consists of the United States, Mexico, Spain, Portugal, Chile and Brazil. Chavez tried to persuade Brazil's new president, socialist Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva, to agree to add other nations, including Cuba, Algiers and China.

Silva declined. Some here speculate that Chavez, a left-wing nationalist, was deeply disappointed.

Opposition figures, led by a business group and a labor union, hoped a "civic strike" they declared on Dec. 2 would topple Chavez or force him to submit to an early election they are certain he would lose.

Tens of thousands of opponents regularly march against Chavez, accusing him of pushing Venezuela toward an authoritarian, Cuban-style state, and contending that he has committed a host of abuses of power and driven the country further into economic hardship.

Chavez, a former army paratrooper, survived a coup attempt in April when supporters, largely from Caracas' poor barrios, rose up to defend him as the first president who has identified with the poor. Despite its oil wealth, about 80 percent of Venezuelans live in poverty, and for decades the country has been awash in political corruption.

Chavez, elected as a populist maverick in 1998, has called strike leaders "fascists" and accused them of sabotaging the country.

On Friday, representatives of the "Friends of Venezuela" countries are to meet in Washington at the Organization of American States headquarters to discuss how the group will operate.

Gaviria said he hoped the group would advance talks and help both sides "see reality, to interpret it, put a little pressure so that they realize the damage being done to the country."

www.chinapost.com.tw 2003/1/21

CARACAS, Venezuela, AP Bloody clashes between foes and followers of President Hugo Chavez overshadowed efforts by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter to help resolve Venezuela's crisis and end a strike that has crippled the world's fifth largest oil exporter.

One man was killed and 27 were injured Monday when gunfire erupted as Chavez supporters confronted opposition marchers in Charallave, a town 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Caracas.

Both sides threw rocks, bottles and sticks at each other, and police struggled to keep them apart, but it was not clear who fired the live ammunition.

Opposition leaders blamed the violence on the government, saying Chavez sympathizers, instigated by the president's fiery rhetoric, attacked their march.

"The only one responsible is the government," said Juan Fernandez, an executive fired from the state oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., for leading the strike.

Carter, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in October, attended negotiations between the government and opposition Monday and met separately with Chavez and strike leaders. His Atlanta-based Carter Center, the Organization of American States and the United Nations are sponsoring the talks.

Business leaders, labor unions and opposition parties launched the strike Dec. 2 to demand that Chavez resign or call early elections. After two months of negotiations, the two sides seem little closer to an agreement.

Chavez threatened Sunday to walk out of talks, accusing the opposition of trying to topple him even as they negotiated.

Strike leader Carlos Ortega said opponents would continue negotiating, but called Chavez undemocratic and said he would never accept a vote on his rule.

Ortega, president of the 1 million member Confederation of Venezuelan Workers, said Gaviria and Carter should "convince themselves once and for all that we are dealing with a regime that is not democratic, and that as long as Chavez stays in power there is no possibility of holding elections."

The National Elections Council, accepting an opposition petition, agreed to organize a Feb. 2 nonbinding referendum asking citizens whether Chavez should step down.

Chavez says the vote would be unconstitutional and his supporters have challenged it in the Supreme Court. But the president has welcomed a possible binding referendum halfway through his six-year-term, or August, as allowed by the constitution.

The strike has slashed Venezuela's oil production by more than two-thirds and caused shortages of gasoline, food and drinking water. It has cost Venezuela US$4 billion, according to the government, and contributed to the plummeting of the bolivar currency.

Six countries _ Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and the United States _ began an initiative called "Friends of Venezuela" to help end the crisis. Chavez warned that his government will not allow interference in domestic affairs.

The 48-year-old Chavez was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000 on promises to redistribute the country's vast oil wealth among the poor majority.

His opponents accusing him of steering the economy into recession with leftist policies and running roughshod over democratic institutions.